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www.gourmetnews.com n JANUARY 2020 GOURMET NEWS 5 6 Zia Pia imports & Italian kitchen Purveys Authentic Flavor By Lorrie Baumann Zia Pia imports & Italian kitchen is a link to the authentic taste of Italy for residents of Charlotte, North Carolina, and for its whole- sale and online customers across the U.S. "The idea behind the business was to source unique Italian foods that were difficult to find – those foods you experience when you travel to Italy," said Victoria Custodi Zabel, who founded Zia Pia imports & Italian kitchen six years ago. "We wanted to bring in authentic flavors that were hard to find – flavors that were representative of the re- gional traditions of Italy, striking a balance of unique foods with foods that people will buy at an appropriate price." That's still a good description of the products she's bringing into the U.S. from Italy today. Her product range now includes egg pastas from Antica Pasta di Cam- pofilone, which makes its range of pasta shapes according to a centuries-old tradition in the small medieval town in the Le Marche region and pastas from Gragnano, a hilltop town overlooking the Gulf of Naples that has a unique microclimate par- ticularly well suited for growing the grain. Sauces from Zia Pia are equally authentic, from Perche Ci Credo and Italianavera, both made from premium ingredients and traditional recipes. Chocolate is imported from Sicily and made according to the Modica cold working process; olive oil comes from Frantoio Galantino in Puglia and Terre di Grifonetto in Umbria. "Galan- tino has a range of fused extra virgin olive oils, including lemon, basil and peperon- cino and extra virgin oils in artisan hand- made ceramics," Zabel said. She started her business after growing up spending time in Italy with her Italian family members and then going on to study interna- tional business studies at the University of South Carolina, where her masters degree program required her to live and learn in Italy. "I lived in Milan and then worked for six months in Turin," she said. "My family was Italian, and I wanted to learn that lan- guage, and I just loved the culture and the language and the food and wanted to spend time over there." After graduation, she went to work in New York City, coming home in the evenings to shed thoughts of her corporate job by day- dreaming about the business she planned to start one day – drawing up business plans for an Italian imports business and tasting them in her mind. "This is something that I've al- ways loved as long as I can remember," she said. "It's something that I've always wanted to do." After she had a daughter and moved to Charlotte, she decided to get serious about launching her business in her new city. "Charlotte is a great place to grow Zia Pia. In addition to the many Italian foodies, there's a growing native Italian population in Charlotte as well. A lot of Italian companies have been opening headquarters in this area. Charlotte also has a lot of people who have moved from northeastern cities where they have immigrant roots. They bring that cul- ture down here with them." She named her nascent business Zia Pia, after her aunt Pia, of Orvieto, Italy. "I named her after my aunt because she was like a grandmother to me," Zabel said. "When I lived in Italy, I traveled and stayed with her. I learned so much from her about food, and about life." When she was ready, Zabel got in touch with an Ital- ian friend who was a chef and had similar ideas about the types of foods that ought to find their way into the American market, and they started sourcing products. "I wanted to start out and see how it worked," she said. "I wanted to explore what I could do on my own, as an independent business connected to Italy." After a couple of years of quietly estab- lishing an online and local wholesale busi- ness, Zabel decided to open a small retail presence in Charlotte, beginning with a stall in the 7th Street Public Market, a food hall featuring all local vendors with a mission to celebrate the food culture of the Carolinas and to promote high quality, fresh and af- fordable foods. The little stall provided some visibility for Zia Pia and helped market the online business and created synergy for wholesale. Eventually, a larger space opened up that had a kitchen in it, so that Zia Pia is able to cook with its authentic products as well as to offer them from retail shelves. Zia Pia has about 750 square feet of space, with its serv- ice counter taking up about half the space and generating about two thirds of the space's revenue. Guests order at the counter and take their food to the tables in the mar- ket's common area. "It's super casual counter service," Zabel said. "An easy and accessible way for everyone to experience authentic Italian flavors. We get a lot of di- versity of people who come into the market." A small space redesign will open up space for a retail tasting counter. "The foodservice component completes the cycle," Zabel said. "We're allowing our customers to directly experience the authentic foods and flavors from our kitchen." Expanded Local Offerings Enhance Oakville Grocery Oakville Grocery, a northern California gen- eral store that has been a gathering place for locals and tourists for nearly 140 years, has been enhanced since joining the Boisset Col- lection in January. Visitors to both Oakville and Healdsburg will now find an emphasis on local sustainable, organic and biodynamic food offerings as well as an expanded wine selection that includes exclusive, highly allocated wines by the taste, glass or bottle. These new items, as well as the grocery's signature favorites, can now be enjoyed on renovated patios during extended summer hours. "We are so excited to bring new life into community landmarks in Napa Valley and Sonoma County," said Jean-Charles Boisset, Proprietor of Boisset Collection. "Oakville Grocery is a phenomenal destination where guests can spend a relaxing afternoon trying a selection of amazing wines; fresh, healthy and local cuisine; and fabulous craft beers!" The historical legacy of the Oakville des- tination has been made more prominent through extensive signage throughout the property that tell the story of its founding role in Napa Valley. In addition, the property next door — 1881 Napa Wine History Mu- seum & Tasting Salon — features tastings of wines from 13 sub-appellations of Napa Val- ley as well as an archive of wine relics open for complimentary visitation and has pub- lished its own history of the region. A unique feature of both Oakville Grocery locations is that guests can taste some of the most sought-after wines from rotating pro- ducers that have included Opus One, Screaming Eagle and Kosta Browne by pur- chasing cards and using them in Napa Tech- nology dispensers. "Normally wine lovers have to wait on al- location lists for years to purchase these bot- tles," said Ed Maass, Oakville Grocery Wine Pro- gram Manager. "We are thrilled that we can make these beautiful wines more accessible and offer them by the taste and glass at Oakville Grocery, and through our Oakville Wine Society." Throughout each store, the wine selections have been significantly expanded and diver- sified as well as organized by appellation. In the Oakville location guests can discover wines from nearly 300 Napa Valley vintners and in Healdsburg they can browse through an equally large selection of Sonoma County producers. The flagship location in Napa Valley also has two new spaces dedicated to wine: a "cave" where guests can sample the highest-end wines from the Napa Tech ma- chines as well as a wine vault that guests can enter and make selections from, as if they're perusing their own wine cellar at home. A wine vault is also planned for the Healdsburg location, which has a revamped and up- graded main floor wine section. The robust and diverse wine offerings are now available through a unique wine club. The Oakville Grocery Wine Society offers wine enthusiasts the opportunity to continue their journey through the wine country of Napa Valley through quarterly shipments of wines, many of which are small lot and hard to find. Society members receive access to private tasting experiences as well as a 10 percent discount on reorders and store pur- chases. The society has four different levels: Embarcadero, with a three-bottle allocation averaging $225; Expe- dition, with a three-bot- tle allocation averaging $450; Quicksilver, with a 3- or 6-bottle alloca- tion averaging $1,050 or $2,100; and Savant, which offers the se- lections of the most exclusive and hard-to- procure wines, and is available exclusively by invitation for the most discerning collec- tors. As a community fixture in the hearts of Napa Valley and Healdsburg, Boisset wel- comes chefs, friends, neighbors and visitors to come in to shop. Oakville Grocery is also committed to its community and invites ar- tisans and purveyors to bring in their prod- ucts for consideration for sale. A steadfast practitioner of biodynamic and organic farm- ing, through the new food selection at the groceries, Boisset is spreading its mission for people to "take a stand for the future of food" and carefully consider what they are putting in their bodies. As part of this ideal Boisset has improved and expanded the line of Oakville Grocery-branded proprietary offer- ings – such as vinegar, olive oil, preserves, tapenade, mustards, charcuterie and beer – while at the same time ensuring they derived from more local sources. "Our motto is 'Eat Local, Drink Local, Picnic Local.' We want to sell products that are made as close to Oakville Grocery as possible," said Oakville Grocery General Manager Barry Dinsmore, referencing both the Oakville and Healdsburg locations of the store. He estimated that 70 percent of prod- ucts in the stores hail from California, with another 20 percent from the U.S. and the re- maining 10 percent international. One of the new food providers Oakville Grocery has partnered with is Ohm Coffee Roasters. The Napa Val- ley-based company led by former sommelier and wine marketing profes- sional Derek Bromley is the exclusive coffee provider for both the Oakville and Healdsburg locations. The Oakville location now has a coffee machine from La Marzocco, the benchmark Italian brand, as a central feature of the up- graded coffee program. In addition to new foods and wines, the Oakville location has a renovated patio with new furniture and umbrellas to better enable guests to take in views of some of Napa Val- ley's most notable landmarks—the Mayaca- mas Mountains and the landmark To Kalon vineyard to the west and the valley's highest point, Mt. St. Helena, to the north. Guests can soak up the atmosphere while enjoying sandwiches and salads from the deli cases in- side; delicious pizza, burgers and sandwiches made in the wood-fired outdoor oven; or lo- cally raised roasted chickens from the rotis- serie, along with wine selected from the grocery or the new, adjacent 1881 Napa tast- ing room. The Healdsburg patio, which has 40 seats and is one of the only outdoor eating spaces near the Healdsburg Plaza, will also soon have an updated look. 1881 Napa derives its name from the his- tory of Oakville Grocery, which was founded in 1874 as a general store by P.B. O'Neil and then transitioned into a community hub in 1881 under the auspices of Jim and Jennie McQuaid. "None of us own 1881 Napa or Oakville Grocery. We are just guests in their history. These places will outlive us," said Boisset.