On Friday, September 13, while the rest of Little Italy poured into the streets for the Feast of San Gennaro, Di Palo’s Fine Foods — one of the oldest surviving shops in the neighborhood — opened its new wine bar without fanfare. C. Di Palo, the first time that the 109-year-old family business is serving its cheese in a restaurant setting, is connected to the shop, and by the following Wednesday evening, word was already out among loyal fans.

Siblings Sam and Caitlin Di Palo and their cousin Jessica Di Palo Canal flitted around the room pouring wine, slicing mortadella, and greeting many customers by name. “Not only are we a fifth-generation business, but we also have five generations of customers,” Caitlin says. “We have customers that came with their parents and their parents came with their grandparents.”