It has been months since I went to Providence RI to get some good Italian
food. We usually stop at a few of the stores and buy some of the best
imported cheeses, meats, and prepared foods. You can buy quail, fresh
rabbit and many things you'll never see in the supermarket.

One of our favorite stops is Tony's market. www.tonyscolonial.com because
they have such a good selection of prepared foods as well as the usual
selection of groceries. We bought some Provolone cheese, Tuscan salami, a
few types of sausage, prosciutto, pancetta, bread, snail salad, fresh
mozzarella, chicken/eggplant Parmesan with ricotta cheese. The first $100
bill was destroyed and a big tear was made in another.

Not only is the quality excellent, they know how to slice and pack the
meats. Buy salami at the supermarket deli and they slice it too thick and
just pile it up in a stack. At the better stores, it is cut very thin on an
angle so you have an oval cross section and each slice is laid next to each
other on a sheet of waxed paper. A pound will be a few layers of paper.

Over the past six months we've had provolone from the store. We actually
were beginning to think it was acceptable, but one bite of the imported
sharp cheese reminded me why I used to drive the 30 miles to Providence. My
wife made me promise to go at least once a month. If you live in the area
and have not gone there, you are missing one of the world's best sources of
good food. Boston, Philadelphia, New York and maybe a few other cities have
gems like this, but you just don't find them in the typical suburbs of
America.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/