Italian market opens on Grand Blvd.

Italian Olive Oil Early last fall Sal Sciortino thought he'd be running his own Italian deli and catering operation out of the storefront at 3740 Grand Blvd. in Brookfield in no time. But a pile of construction delays and a new baby later, the owner of the village's popular Trattoria Gemelli found himself waiting eight more months.But on May 10, Toscanino Italian Market and Catering finally opened its doors to the public."The food part of it we knew going in," Sciortino said. "The construction business we learned."There was a lot to learn. The storefront was completely gutted down to the four walls in order to make way for a small front-of-the house deli and market and a sizeable professional kitchen that can accommodate the kind of catering operation that the restaurant across the street just couldn't."It allows us to supply wholesale for the restaurant and other wholesale customers as well as catering," Sciortino said. "Across the street we were working on top of each other."The face of Toscanino for the general public is that of a small deli, the kind of throwback convenience store that used to be found on Grand Boulevard and corner stores in Brookfield, only with a focus on Italian specialties.In addition to imported Italian cheeses and meats, there is a selection of other deli items, plus hot and cold prepared meals and soups that change daily. On Monday, for example, the store offered roasted lamb and sausage giambotta, among other items.Hot and cold sandwiches are available to go, in addition to salads, pastas and breakfast items.The two small aisles of grocery items focus on imported Italian dry pastas, olive oil, bakery goods, canned goods and more.Toscanino is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.