European traveler

                     THE SUNSET CAFE

                LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC!!!!

                    PRESENTING FREE ENTERTAINMENT 

                               EVERY  FRIDAY EVENING!

                               

Large grocery stores may be ripping you off , so beware of what is going on!

Yesterday I went into a large supermarket to pick up some things.

On the way over to the meat department, I noticed a huge display..pallets..of canned tomatoes.

The sign said "San Marzano Tomatoes $1.99"

I couldn't believe my eyes.

San Marzano tomatoes, imported from Italy, denotes the region where the tomatoes are grown..the San Marzano region. Every can must have a seal from the Italian authorities certifying that the tomatoes come from this region. It is called "DOP Certification". And San Marzano tomatoes cost plenty more! I knew something fishy was going on.

As I picked up the can of these "San Marzano" tomatoes, it had printed on the label, in small letters. the following "domestically produced"

That means these tomatoes were not imported. Rather they are American tomatoes.

I called for the manager and asked for an explanation.

He told me that they were really "San Marzano Style" tomatoes.

I told him that wasn't what the label said. It said "San Marzano Tomatoes".

I told him that stunts like this rip off the consumer, and hurt honest importers (like me) who sell only imported Italian DOP San Marzano tomatoes.

I told him that he was being dishonest, I told him that I would not shop there until the tomatoes were cleared or a disclaimer placed on them.

He thought I was nuts. He walked away smirking.

Anyway, be aware! A lot of crap is masquerading as imported stuff today!

I suggest reading labels very very carefully!

We have stories now of stuff like this happening every day, all over the place!

  

                                 OUR NEW "SUNSET CAFE"

                                                  NOW OPEN!!

                                          EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT!

                                                       7:30 To 10PM

                                ESPRESSO, CAPPUCINO, LATTES, CANNOLI...AND MORE!

                                     APPEARING FRIDAY JUNE 27th 8PM

                             ONE OF BOSTON'S BEST ACOUSTIC RECORDING ARTISTS

                                  "CATIE RAY SWAY"

             FREE ! (WE WILL PASS THE HAT.....JUST LIKE A EUROPEAN CAFE )

                                            HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!

Tom Grella will do a cooking demo this coming Saturday at noon at the new store....our first at the new location!

He is a wonderful chef who woow-ed the last group last month, and we were happy to have him again.

The demo is at 2PM and cost $20.00.

Beside sampling the great dishes that he will prepare, you will be entitled to a discount on shopping afterwards.

Call 978-686-7667 to enroll. We have about 6 spaces left!

You just gotta come down to our new store...people are raving about it!

While we miss the quaintness of our other store, this new place has taken on a personality of its own and our customers have used the word "beautiful" to describe it.

The store is a piece of art...we are adding things to it every day...and slowly her essence is emerging.

Not that we are finished...not by a long shot.

We have big plans down the line...getting the gelateria portion of the cafe open by the Fourth of July, having our first acoustic "Coffe House" on Friday June 27th featuring singers, poets and the like, plus our regular stuff like the cooking demos ( the next one is Saturday June 21 at noon with Chef Tom Grella), and of course, our Italian classes too.

We finially got our last container released from customs this week and we now have all our nut creams in and on display, plus our brand new line of hand made artisian pasta from Sicily too. Last I counted, we have added about 50 different products than we had in our old location.

So, the change continues...and we are loving every minute...

 

Well, we did it!

After a lot of hard work, we opened our Sicilian Sunset Cafe at our new store in Lawrence at 500-A Merrimack Street.

Now, we are adding a lot of neat stuff to the cafe!

Beside now having the best espresso, capuccino, latte for miles areound, this week we added riccotta cannoli...made from an old Sicilian recipe...to our menu!

People are gobbling them up. and I love it when I walk into the cafe section of the store and see people sipping a cappucino and treating themselves to a cannoli!

I decided that our cafe is the closest thing to a real Sicilian cafe there is in America...the ambiance..the music..the treats...simply great!

I have been hunting for just the right gelato too, and this week I found it!

I hope that right after the Fourth of July that we will have our gelateria up and running too!

Wow! Lots of changes taking place...all for the better, too!

The new store is almost ready!

Tonight I will pick up the keys to our beautiful shiny new store at 500-A Merrimack Street in Lawrence that will soon open another chapter in our remarkable story  promoting our beloved Sicily.

On Thursday night, I have a crew lined up to start to bring over all the fixtures...including setting up our new Sicilian Sunset Cafe.

All weekend long we will bring new things over from our warehouse , and by next week sometime we should be all ready for our "Grand Opening Announcement"

In the meantime, we are selling off all the products in our  4 Union Street store at unbelievable prices ...our way of saying THANK-YOU to all our loyal customers.

The time draws near for an end to our beloved Union Street Store...but a new beginning is almost underway!

Hope to see you either at the old store for truly great savings, or at the "new" store soon!

Alfred