Posted by Michael Stern on September 11, 2001
Do you find yourself in Canarsie or the Flatlands of Brooklyn looking for pounds of freshly made sausage? We’ve got just the place to find it: Landi’s pork store, a neighborhood fixture since 1928.
From the sidewalk on Avenue N, you can look through the front windows and see beautiful sausages being made at spanking-clean silver machines; and once you step inside, you are in Italian-food heaven. Foremost among the delights on display atop the butcher’s cases are pyramids of Landi’s own soppresatta, which is the hard, garlicky salami that is essential for any serious antipasto tray. Also arrayed atop the glass are rows of fresh mozzarella – pure white, creamy rounds just begging to be sliced thin or grated for the top of a homemade pizza. Of course, the inventory also includes cappicollo, proscuitto, mortadella, and various pepperonis.
We came home with all kinds of Landi’s sausage – hot, sweet, fennel, cheese-and-parsley filled – as well as pints and quarts of spaghetti sauce in varieties that included fresh tomato and basil, white clam, marinara, and Bolognese. And there are cases full of Italian cheeses, shelves of bread, olives, peppers, etc., etc.
Landi’s is a grocery – a pork store to be precise – and there is no place here to eat. Note, however, that Landi’s does cater and has a full menu of party sandwiches and specialty heroes from two to six feet long, hot buffet items that include bowtie noodles with broccoli rabe and rigatoni with proscuitto sauce, and cold antipasto trays for eaters by the dozen.
Overall: Worth driving from anyplace
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"Good pork stores are fundamental to the culinary life of Brooklyn."
Michael Stern
"If you're about to make a mozzarella pizza, you can't do better than topping it with gratings from one of these pure, creamy bombs of cheese."
Michael Stern
"Hard, unctuous, and garlicky, soppresatta is a signature sausage at Landi's."
Michael Stern
"Through this window, you can see the sausage being made."
Michael Stern
"Although it is nearly 3/4 century old, Landi's is clean, tidy, and fresh. The aroma inside -- of sausage, cheese, and garlic -- is dizzying."
Michael Stern
