LOMBARDI'S

An AMAZING (and IN-PERSON) Retail Shopping Experience in Fairport, NY

LOMBARDI'S GOURMET IMPORTS & SPECIALTIES

A Brick & Mortar Paradise in Fairport, NY operated by ever-present siblings Anthony & Mary Lombardi. Their brother and partner John operates their Syracuse store.

It's really easy these days to shop from the comfort of one's sofa, simply searching, pointing, and clicking... all in a matter of seconds. But maybe it's gotten too easy, and we're missing out on something special, something that might be slipping away from us forever--

The in-person experience of shopping in a store run by a family who love what they do.

I treat myself to this experience every single week upon returning from my truck-driving shift by finding a reason to drive one town over and visiting LOMBARDI'S.

For most Americans, cooking Italian food at home means tomato sauces and pasta and variations thereof-- lasagne, rigatoni, you name it. LOMBARDI'S has everything you need for that, and so much more.

Upon entering the store, I find myself delightfully overwhelmed by the visual cacophony of sheer abundance-- every imaginable oil, sauce, pasta shape, and implement for preparing great Italian cuisine at home is right within arm's length. My nose then conspires with my eyes to loosen my wallet as the seductive aromas of fresh coffee and Italian cookery fill my nostrils.

Pasta, pasta, everywhere, in every imaginable shape.

After barely a minute inside, the ever-smiling and energetic co-owner Anthony Lombardi greets me by name and offers me a cup of coffee, and his sister and co-owner Mary soon appears with a sumptuous snack made from products on their bountiful shelves.

If you're going to eat pasta-- and why not, unless you're complete carbophobe or a glutenista-- you should seek out Italian-made pasta. The herbicide glyphosate, a classified carcinogen and the active ingredient in ROUNDUP, is widely used in American wheat production but is banned in Italy. Great pasta calls for great sauce, and LOMBARDI'S offers numerous variants of tomato sauce, too many for me to try in one lifetime. But after tasting a few of the versions bearing LOMBARDI'S own label, I deemed further experimentation unnecessary.

A quartet from the LOMBARDI'S proprietary selection of sauces.

The basic MARINARA sauce is sumptuously thick and flavorful, while the SWEET BASIL sauce is otherworldly delicious, unlike anything I've ever tasted before. And who manufactures these sauces for LOMBARDI'S... perhaps the food factory right down the street? "No!" Anthony replied, hinting that his neighbor is geared to service much larger clients than he. "I've got a guy," he said, with a sly smile that suggested omerta. (That's Sicilian for "secrecy,"' for you non-GODFATHER fans.) Whoever that secret guy is, he makes tomato sauces sufficiently drop-dead rich and delicious to inspire my further curiosity into the Italian culinary canon.

Maybe someday we will be living in "the matrix" wherein AI makes fictitious bliss indistinguishable from actual pleasures. Until that day sadly arrives, I shall cherish my weekly visits to LOMBARDI'S.

There's WAY more than just pasta & sauces at Lombardi's-- a wide variety of Italian meats and cheeses, salads, balsamic vinegars, coffees, and a HUGE selection of top-quality cookware. Lombardi's also ships their products and makes gift baskets to order. See website for details.

LOMBARDI'S GOURMET IMPORTS & SPECIALTIES

124 NORTH MAIN ST. FAIRPORT, NY 14450

https://lombardisgourmet.net/

Yes, it's a map of wine regions, but they correspond exactly to Italy's division

into twenty political/administrative regions. The Lombardi family hails from

Calabria (the "toe") and picturesque Amalfi on the coast of Campania.

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I am happy to include LOMBARDI'S on my short list of very cool family-owned and operated stores to visit in the Finger Lakes region, joining these two (so far)--

The Sutton Company (Naples, NY)

Manufacturers of the famous, hand-crafted Sutton Spoon, long the go-to lure for those who troll for Finger Lakes trout. The Sutton Company occupies a humble storefront in the gorgeous little downtown Naples, NY... a shop that's not just for fishermen. Look for the lazy cat in the window.

Mary’s Barn Market (Weedsport, NY)

A wonderful resource for no-nonsense farmer clothing, tools, and delicious goodies.

(Click for full article.)