Tucked away at the corner of Vandeventer and Boyle Avenues in The Grove neighborhood is an online retailer and wholesaler of imported Italian specialty foods, Ditalia Fine Italian Imports. I’ve literally passed it hundreds of times driving down Vandeventer but never bothered to find out what was behind its unassuming brick façade.

My curiosity got the best of me and I decided to stop in. “Hi, I’m Michael… I’m with Ciao St Louis”. The response was warm and inviting: “Come on in, benvenuto, take a look around and make yourself at home.” That was Vince DiPiazza, owner of Ditalia. Inside a plethora of gourmet Italian specialties surround me. A large warehouse filled to the brim with pastas, salumi, olive oils, antipasti, pastries – and not just any kind, but the very best brands that Italy has to offer. I was taken aback by the representation of foods from every single region of Italy.