Mark’s Restaurant Score 8.7
Mark’s Retail Score 9.4
Piazza is a combination Italian deli and providore, located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center in downtown Easton. Over the past few months this has become my go to store for all things Italian. No longer do I buy pasta, Italian bread, or sauce at the local supermarket. Finally; I have found a place where I can get quality products for some of my favorite foods. Better still, for a long time I have been a fan of Italian wines and they carry the best selection of Italian wines in the area.
I also appreciate a good story and I am enamored with the Piazza story. Piazza was founded in 2008 by Emily Chandler. After spending a mere semester in Rome to study art, Emily developed a keen passion for Italian food. Upon returning to Easton, she opened Piazza. Piazza is her homage to the Italian passion for food and family and la dolce vita. One has to admire her ambition and dedication to her passion. As for me, I applaud any effort dedicated to improving American eating habits. In my view, we should all share the Italian passion for quality food.
I am ashamed to admit that it took me some time to discover Piazza. I am not sure how it managed to stay under my radar for such a long period of time. I have lived here ten years and I only discovered Piazza about a year ago. However, I will make up for lost time. I admire any young person who has a vision and who boldly follows that vision. I’ll support Piazza for that reason alone. I will also support Piazza because it provides quality, authentic Italian food. I am willing to spend considerably more than I would in a supermarket if I am given an authentic experience and offered high quality products.
I have bought products in the store, and I have also eaten in the deli. The deli is OK, I have had better. But I will give them this, the day I ate at the deli, there was a group of women sitting at a table doing needle point. Being curious, I went over to talk to them. They are a local needle point group and Piazza has given them permission to meet and needlepoint at the deli. I love local flavor and color and I enjoy quirky twists. Piazza gets extra points for being so community minded.
The deli is nice, but the shop is the real reason to visit Piazza. It is chock-a-block with high quality authentic Italian cheeses, charcuterie, pasta, olive oil, bread, vinegar, sauces, wines and pre-cooked Italian dishes for take away.
Piazza represents a return to how our grandparents shopped. I much prefer shopping at a friendly neighborhood store where you trust the quality of the product and believe in the vision of the owner. It is better to shop local community-oriented stores than at faceless national corporations, and when was the last time you saw the supermarket host a needlepoint group?
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