Regina Hale and her husband Mark had never eaten fresh mozzarella until they moved to Jeannette. While they waited for their deli order at DeLallo's Italian Marketplace, they sampled some of the fresh cheese that Don Grosser was making in the back of the store, like he has for nearly 30 years.

“It was very different, but it was good,” Regina Hale, 54, said. The fresh mozzarella has more color and buttery flavor than standard fare. “It's good to know that they still make it by hand.” Behind a small glass counter, Grosser, 65, of Greensburg feeds cheese curds through the mouth of a stainless steel board fitted with wire and into a mixing bowl full of hot water. It's heated to 180 degrees — hot enough to mix the curd together and make it pliable, but not hot enough to sap it of butterfat, Grosser said.