Eat Your Colors- Seattle, WA

Peter Delaurenti, 1920s

photo courtesy of Pike Parket Market

In the late 1920s, Peter “Pete” DeLaurenti was a young man who had recently returned to the Seattle area from Torino, Italy. He began delivering bread at Pike Place Market. While making his rounds, he met a young woman named Mamie-Marie Mustelo, who worked in her mother’s small grocery in the lower levels of the public market. In 1930, Pete and Mamie-Marie married. In 1946, after the end of World War II, the couple purchased the grocery from Mamie-Marie’s mother and christened the new store “Pete’s Italian Grocery.” Shortly after, DeLaurenti began reshaping the store into a specialty food market.

In 1972, DeLaurenti’s son, Louie, took the reins and moved the store to a prominent location at the corner of First Avenue and Pike Street where it thrives today. Situated at the grand entrance of the Market, the shop offers a warm welcome to visitors from around the world. Three generations of the DeLaurenti family managed the store until 2001, when Louie received a tempting offer from three local residents (and customers) who had spent the previous decade working for the first Italian coffee roasting company in Seattle.

DeLaurenti Wine & Food 2022

Since taking ownership, Pat McCarthy, Matt Snyder and Nate Plutko discovered that the act of pouring a caffe latte into a hand-painted ceramic cup is very akin to slicing and wrapping a perfect halfpound of Prosciutto di Parma. Both involve the two most important parts of the store: the best quality products and the highest level of service. From the famous fishmongers, to newcomers looking for Pacific Northwest specialties, and locals who arrive early on Fridays and Saturdays for fresh mozzarella, DeLaurenti remains a hub for delicious food in the bustling Pike Place Market

The Delaurenti Food & Wine shop reminded me of a mini NYC Time Square but with better food. Every where I turned, there were people gleefully smiling, eating, buying and moving throughout the busy Deli in controlled chaos.

The aromas of deli meats, cured meats, pungent cheeses and fresh house bread permeated the senses and the soul. Customers and Staff Members seem to be as happy to see the other. Who could blame them- they were exchanging love in the form of food, right?

I found myself watching the people and all the glorious foods as far as my eyes can see. I was in Heaven with a dumb grin on my face! I must’ve looked like a lost Tourist and so a young woman, Brenna came to rescue me.

I believed I’ve tasted almost every thing in the store! Then a sweetlooking staff-member walked passed holding a tray for house bread. (Did they plan that?) jajaja

“Is this your very first time with us at DeLaurenti?” “Nooo- I’m here every day! jajajajaja!” “I got you! Anything in particular you’d like to try?” “Actually, whenever I can, I try to show folks just how easy it is to create an amazing experience with great quality foods. I’m packing a picnic- think you can help?” “Yes, of course. Let’s try some buttery prosciutto or do you prefer a saltier variety, H. Luiz.” “I prefer a… wait? How do you know my name?” “The Pike Park Market corporate office told us to be on the lookout for a dapper young man, looking to do a picnic. So a bunch of us Googled you. We are happy that you chose DeLaurenti for your picnic. I hope you don’t mind.” “That’s funny- a little creepy, but funny!”

Brenna took me on an amazing tour from Italy to France to Spain and back to the Northwest, United States.

*read the rest in the NEW Issue of EAT YOUR COLORS magazine