A little bit of Italy (From The Northern Echo)

A little bit of Italy

4:11pm Monday 20th February 2012 in Lifestyle

Fresh coffee, fine food and an authentic taste of Italy... Ruth Addicott finds out why Borrelli’s Deli in Yarm is so popular with its customers.

FEW places count pensioners and premiership footballers among their customers, but if it’s good food, friendly banter and an authentic taste of Italy you’re after, Borrelli’s Deli is hard to beat. Situated on Danby Wynd, just off Yarm High Street, Borrelli’s is more than just a deli – it’s an experience.

Owner Luciano opened the coffee shop in August 2007, offering fresh food “the Italian way” that wasn’t available elsewhere. Having started with basic paninis and freshly baked pizza, he now offers everything from chocolatefilled pastries to good quality Sardinian wine.

Luciano’s parents are both from Italy (his mother was from Naples, his father from Sardinia).

He was born in Llanelli, South Wales, but grew up on traditional Italian cooking and still remembers the huge pizzas his mother used to make.

“It’s my background, I was brought up on Italian food,” he says. “I’d seen little shops like this in Italy and thought it could really work in a little town over here.”

A qualified baker by trade, Luciano was fresh food manager at Asda and worked for the retailer 15 years before leaving to open his own deli. Within two years, Borrelli’s won an award for best new business and had built up a loyal following.

The shelves are stacked with food from all regions. Along with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, cheese and speciality meats (prosciutto and salami with fennel seeds and chilli, etc), there’s pasta from Bologna, sauce from Tuscany, biscuits from Perugia and Panforte (a kind of chocolate nougat) from Sienna. Luciano has a supplier near Venice and an uncle in Italy he calls on if he’s looking for inspiration. “Sometimes he’ll mention things I’ve never heard of,” he says.

It’s the atmosphere, though, including the Italian music, that sets Borrelli’s apart from the rest. There’s something quietly reassuring about the sound of mandolins in the background, competing with the Espresso machine and Luciano’s famous banter.

“It’s like a little bit of Italy,” says part time assistant, Barbara, (who recommends the toasted panettone). “People love the ambience and feel they have a warm welcome.”

Customers range from young professionals and pensioners to well known footballers, but they all get the same level of service. Regulars include a group of local businessmen Luciano calls “the crazy gang”, who come in wielding their iPhones every morning. Then there’s “Keith”, the most loyal customer of the lot, who’s been in since the day they opened. Former England football manager, Steve Mc- Claren, has been in (he likes a cappuccino), as has Newcastle player, Shola Ameobi. There’s free Wi-fi and the tables outside have heating and a barrier that acts as a windshield so the froth doesn’t blow off.

Part-time assistant Peter is the closest they’ve got to a proper barista and is forever impressing customers creating leaf and heartshaped drawings on top of the froth.

Barbara hasn’t had quite so much success with the coffee, but has other talents (like persuading Luciano to have a stockpile of blankets in case customers get cold legs in winter).

“There’s a knack to making good coffee and I had to learn it,” she says. “I put too much froth in the milk on my first day and it went everywhere.

I was covered. Everyone was laughing.

Even Helen in the shoe shop opposite heard me yelling and came over to see if everything was all right.”

There is rarely a dull moment – especially when Terry, the maintenance man, is in.

“Terry, my father-in-law, does a bit of DIY so any jobs we need doing, we call him in,” says Luciano. “The first day we opened, he knocked the electricity off. We only asked him to put a picture up; he hit some cable and the whole place was in darkness. The fridge went off, the coffee machines went off, the shop was full of people. Fortunately he knew someone who came and fixed it, but everyone had left by then. They couldn’t even pay because the till was off.”

He pauses. “To be fair, though, I don’t know what I’d do without him.” DIY aside, Terry is actually a professionally-trained barista and makes a perfect cup of coffee as well as fixing the electrics.

Borrelli’s is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year and has just had its busiest 12 months yet, despite the downturn. There are new products arriving all the time, including Luciano’s latest dish “piccolo Italiano”, featuring three small tasters such as salami, sun-dried tomato, olives and cheese. Keep an eye out for the latest kitchen accessory – a rotating spice rack (£39.95) featuring 20 different spices, the “Tower of Treats” (containing hand-wrapped chocolate Easter eggs) and Caffe Vergnano 1882.

Luciano is just about to point out a new range of Sardinian wines when the lights go out and we’re half in darkness.

“Oh – that’s Terry,” says Barbara.

“They’ll come back on in a minute, you’re all right.”