Tutto Italiano owner Robert Palizzolo spends his days quietly putting together subs for the lunch crowd and selling high-quality olive oils, unusual pasta shapes, fresh mozzarella, and anything else you might need to keep your kitchen stocked, Italian style. For the past 19 years he has labored in what looked like obscurity in his store on the corner of Washington and Grove St., but I have discovered his secret life as a video star.
I came across what appears to be his acting debut on Vimeo, a website that allows videographers to upload and share their work. Palizzolo stars in the 2-minute clip, a sort of quickie infomercial about the store and all its delicacies. He doesn’t spill any trade secrets, but he does talk about how Tutto gets that great aroma that he says just can’t be reproduced. The secret: “…it’s the olives sitting out on the counter and the cheeses and the cold cuts being sliced fresh, and it just sends out this aroma, and it’s an amazing smell.”
He prides himself on his customer service and his ability to keep things in the store fresh, clean, and interesting, with new products arriving regularly to sit alongside the tried-and-true old favorites. I know first-hand about Tutto’s great service, which comes with a sense of fun and creativity, from the time an employee there helped me put together a bunch of gift bags when it was my turn to host Bunco (a mindless but fun dice game for three tables of four people).
With that hosting privilege comes the great responsibility of supplying the prizes at the end of the night. And those prizes better be good, but at the same time they have to fall within the prize budget, or the Bunco ladies will tsk about profligate spending. Talk about pressure.
The employee at Tutto listened to my needs, said “This is going to be fun,” and got to work helping me put together 5 gift bags that turned out to be fan-favorite prizes for the year.
The hunky and photogenic Palizzolo perhaps thought that he could be a film star in the same way he runs a business—somewhat under the radar, just doing his thing, no big deal. Well, sorry if this post turns your world upside down with autograph-seekers and the paparazzi giving you no peace, Mr. P. Such is the life of an A-lister.
Oh, and the mozzarella and prosciutto sub I stopped in for recently? Molto bueno.
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Tutto Italiano is absolutely the best Italian specialty store around. The subs are AMAZING. I moved here from New York a number of years ago where Italian delicatesans are plentiful. Tutto is not only as good as any of them, it’s better. Rich is a good guy too and they don’t skimp on their subs. Everything is fresh too. Motto Bene!
I agree– the subs are spectacular! My favorite is the Sicilian. Served on their own fresh baked bread with real Italian meats– Mmmmm!
When company comes, I buy a tray of delectable cheese lasagne & a tray of their awesome meatballs. I can’t make better, so why bother shopping, cooking & cleaning up? My guests love it.