Trinacria

 

When I tell people here in Maryland that I’m opening an Italian store they always ask me if I’ve been to Trinacria in Baltimore.  Until a few weeks ago, I had to admit that I hadn’t been there, a reply which garnered looks of suspicion.  I have two excuses:

#1 Trinacria is not in the Little Italy section of Baltimore which I have been to several times and

#2 When I tried to go in August they were already closed (they close at 4:00 pm).

On October 3rd, I made it over there:

The store was super old-school, they were selling many things directly out of the cases.  The prices are unbeatable.  The cheapest stuff anywhere– cans of tomatoes, boxes of pasta, olives, cookies, oil.  So cheap.  Their private label pasta sauces and olive oil seem like the best deal of all, so I asked the guy if they sell wholesale.  No, he said, they stopped doing wholesale about two years ago because it was a headache.  Darn it!  I bought a bottle of wine, a bottle of soda, some tomatoes, a sandwich, and some pasta.  It was dead quiet at 3:00 pm that Friday but I bet on Saturdays they have lines out the door!