Alimentari is basically Italian for food/groceries.  This deli is in an 1,800 square foot former laundromat space and sells fresh pasta, sauces, freshly cut meats and cheeses as well as sandwiches and other dry goods.  The sandwiches are made to order and there is no place to eat in the store.  They also had a gelato counter but we didn’t try it.  It looked like a great place to shop for Italian ingredients but for us we wanted a sandwich for the car.  Similar to last week, we wanted a snack before we went on a tour of a Frank Lloyd Wright site, but this time is was Taliesin.  I must say this sandwich was way better than the last both because of the filling but also the bread.  The buns for their sandwiches are made daily by Madison Sourdough.  They have a great chew with a crisp crust and a soft interior but it’s not too big that it dwarfs the fillings or hard to get your mouth around.  I actually found myself wanting to eat parts of the bread without any filling, it was that good.  If you need ingredients or just a snack, I’d head to this place right away.

Place

Sandwiches

The Spicy Soppressata (an Italian cured salami made with leaner cuts of pork) sandwich also included capicola (another cured pork meat), smoked Muenster cheese, Tuscan greens, hot Giardiniera and ‘nduja mayo – made spicy like the soppressata.  This was a spicy sandwich and filled with flavor.  It was very good.

The porchetta sandwich is made with slow-roasted pork tenderloin seasoned with fennel and topped with arugula, thin apple slices, honey and goat cheese.  This was another delicious sandwich but much milder than the other.  The crisp apple and sweetness of the honey really added something fun to the pork.  The fennel was not a heavy flavor but more in the background.  The goat cheese brought it all together nicely.  I would have enjoyed more spicy arugula but that can vary by batch.  It was very good too.