Paesano Foods - located at 305 Wellington St. W. - marks its 60th anniversary in business this year.
Working at the popular butcher shop and hot deli takeout has been a lifelong occupation for Eugene (Gigi) Palarchio, Paesano Foods owner/operator.
“When I was about eight or nine years old I had a lot of energy. I was a good kid but I had a lot of energy so my dad put me to work on weekends after school,” Palarchio told SooToday.
Palarchio became an official employee of the business at the age of 16 and eventually became co-owner of the shop with his father Enrico and uncle Eugene Buffone.
Eugene Palarchio became sole owner of Paesano Foods in 2000.
“I took on ownership even though it was very challenging because it was hard to compete with the chain stores,” Palarchio said.
Palarchio stepped up to that challenge and, along with continuing to operate the business as an independently-owned butcher shop, started offering prepared takeout dishes for customers, including the popular Paesano Dinner for Two.
The shop also has frozen entrees for sale as well as specially marinated meats ready for the oven or barbecue.
“We season it and marinate it. When you take it off my shelf you don't have to hurry up and put it in the freezer because it's vacuum packed and you can use it within a week. All you’ve got to do is cut the bag and barbecue them. It's great for camping,” Palarchio said.
The specially packaged meals include everything from appetizers, pastas and desserts.
“Most are made on premises and the other ones are from select gourmet companies that we order from,” Palarchio said.
“Basically our main business is fresh meats and frozen foods including seafood. I have the largest selection of frozen seafood. I have shrimp, lobster tails, I have every size. If you go for a lobster tail, there's 10 different sizes. If you want king crab, I've got four or five different sizes. I've really built a niche where I sell things that you couldn't get easily at a chain store.”
Paesano Foods is locally famous for its steaks.
“I made a decision a long time ago that I wasn't going to buy anything less than the highest grade beef. So I sell a lot of Canada prime beef or Angus Reserve beef, nothing less than triple A,” Palarchio said.
All of the shop’s meat is purchased from Canadian suppliers while Palarchio imports his cheese and olive oil from Italy, Greece and Portugal.
“I have the nice balsamic and the nice olive oil that you can't get in the chain stores,” Palarchio said.
Paesano Foods also produces over 20 types of its own sausage with a variety of ingredients including spinach and feta, fennel and peppers, wine and garlic and honey and garlic.
Palarchio still loves the food business after all these years.
“I enjoy my staff. It's like a family. My brother Fiore works here and there are others that have worked here for 30 years, 25 years,” he said.
The customers, of course, are of primary importance to Palarchio. Many of them are regulars and friends.
“I enjoy interacting with people. When I do something and people are very happy with it and come in and say, ‘that was the best steak I ever had, it was so good’ the rewarding feeling from that is fantastic,” he said.
