Monday, February 27, 2012

A Trip to Mazzaro's

A great destination in St. Petersburg, Florida, is Mazzaro's Italian Market, our premier food market. Over the years, Mazzaro's has grown from one small building to a giant complex that requires traffic control on holidays. It's not just a fine market, it's somewhat of a tourist attraction. Let's go in!


The first stop is the wine and cheese room. Mazzaro's encourages sales through sampling — the cheese, not the wine!

Throughout the store, there are lots of interesting artifacts, usually referencing Italian heritage.

Here's a passageway between rooms. Do you get the feeling that there might be something special about the wine below these figures??

I'll bet you didn't know that in 1900, John Deere was manufacturing coffee grinders?


Mazzaro's has the best bread in town (my opinion). Also in this photo are pastries, gellato, and in the background, a coffee bar.

How's this for a selection of olives? You're encouraged to sample. If it's olive oil you're looking for, you can fill a bottle from a tap or choose from a huge selection of prebottled brands.


Here's a wall of pasta. Below, that deli counter seems like a mile long if you don't have a clear choice in mind!



On the way out, there's still something to look at ...


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14 comments:

  1. It looks like Central Market on steroids. It also looks like a lot of fun for a few hours.

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    1. Hello, Archguy. Mazzaro's can be fun for a few hours. Some customers make a habit of getting coffee there on Saturdays because most weekends there's musical entertainment, usually featuring something with an Italian flavor.

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  2. What a joyful, colourful and delightful post Mark.
    I love those painted vehicles, and your first picture of the vehicle featuring the Triskelion obviously belongs to a family with Sicilian origins as it is part of their national flag. It is adding a some sparkle to my sidebar - thanks.

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    1. Hello, Rosemary. I just did some quick research and discovered that the triskelion symbol and early Sicilians were both Greek in origin. The unusual symbol possibly references the triangular shape of the island. I'm glad you mentioned "triskelion" by name!

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  3. Dear Mark. This was a fun shopping experience. I could spend a few dollars in the olive section. That strange looking, three-legged creature is the symbol of Sicily, I think.

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    1. Hello, Gina. That olive section has been a real eye opener for me. I grew up thinking olives were either black or green, period. Thank goodness mainstream American cuisine has broadened so much in the past several decades!

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  4. Hi Mark, I flipped back to this post for another look at that coffee grinder, and noticed that my previous comment never got through. More problems with the Blogger system?
    --Road to Parnassus

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    1. Hello, Parnassus. I'm sorry to say that I never got your first comment. If it was about the John Deere coffee grinder, it's serves today only as a prop.

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  5. I might have to book a trip just to see this in person! I would love to peruse those wines in the passageway. This whole thing is making me hungry!!

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    1. Hi, Theresa! It's a fun destination, whether you're hungry or not!

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  6. Hello Mark,
    If there is such a thing as having lived a previous life, I strongly suspect that I must have been an Italian. What a mix!, old world, stonework, vintage, patterns and colours - absolutely charming market. I'll bet the aromas a wonderful.
    Very much enjoyed Saul Steinberg as well.
    Anyes
    XX

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    1. Thnaks x 2, Anyes! One thing that I didn't mention is that great Italian music is piped throughout the store — one more big element of atmosphere!

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  7. This looks like heaven. :) Lucky you, Mark.

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    1. I'm sure you'd love it, Yvette. While Mazzaro's is an Italian market, I should add that they sell items from around the world — Mexican chocolate, Irish steel cut oatmeal, French and Dutch cheese (of course), and on and on!

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