Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
seriously for years, Armandino spent 2
years learning the meat-curing process
from the ground up before he and his wife,
Marilyn, opened this small deli in the late
1990s to sell his handmade Italian-style
cured meats. Rave reviews poured in,
many of them from people who had no
idea that the owners' son was on his way
to becoming one of America's top chefs.
The charcuterie is all handmade from
traditional methods, though the curing
facility uses plenty of state-of-the-art equip-
ment (there's the mark of the Boeing ex-
engineer) to control the curing climate
more rigorously than any old-country man-
ufactory could. The silken textures and
melting tenderness of Batali's meats are
transcendental, the peppers and spices
sounding a sharp, clear note, and they're
much in demand with Seattle chefs and a
growing online retail business.
Salumi sells not only the traditional spe-
cialty meats—
culatello, dario, finocchiona,
coppa, pancetta, guanciale, sopressata
—
but also experiments with things like lamb
prosciutto, smoked paprika sausage, a
mole-flavored salami, and citrus-and-car-
damom-flavored
agrumi.
Two communal
tables at the back of the store enable cus-
tomers to eat right on the premises (sand-
wiches, breads, cheeses, and various
cooked daily specials are also served),
though you can also buy meats at the
counter to take away. When you plan your
visit, keep in mind that Salumi is only open
Tuesday through Friday, starting at a lei-
surely 11am and closing at 4pm. Hey, the
guy's supposed to be retired; he has a
right to keep whatever hours he wants.
309 Third Ave. South (
&
206/621 8772;
www.salumicuredmeats.com).
(
Seattle-Tacoma International (14 miles/
23km).
L
$$$
Inn at the Market,
86 Pine St.
(
&
800/446-4484
or 206/443-3600; www.
innatthemarket/com). $$
Bacon Mansion
Bed & Breakfast,
959 Broadway E (
&
800/
240-1864
or 206/329-1864; www.bacon
mansion.com).
Gourmet Emporiums &
Specialty Shops
31
Acme Bread Company
Let Them Eat Bread
Berkeley, California
As is so often the case in the Bay Area, the
Acme Bread Company story starts with
Chez Panisse. In 1978 Berkeley undergrad
Steve Sullivan returned to his job as a bus-
boy at Alice Waters's groundbreaking res-
taurant, rhapsodizing over the handmade,
crusty bread he'd eaten on his summer
vacation in Europe. With Waters's encour-
agement, Sullivan taught himself bread-
making and became Chez Panisse's
in-house bread baker. In 1983, by the time
he moved the baking operations out of the
crowded Chez Panisse kitchen, he'd won
enough of a following among Berkeley
food lovers to launch Acme in a tiny shop
in Berkeley, a stone's throw away from
Alice's restaurant.
By now Acme has added a branch at
the Ferry Plaza Market and commercial
bakeries for its growing retail business,
but shoppers still line up outside the min-
iscule Berkeley shop, where the simple
wooden racks behind the counter are
piled high with whole, unsliced loaves
