ARTICLE

The DeRomo’s Difference

07/18/2019

When you arrive at DeRomo’s Gourmet Market & Restaurant, you’ll quickly realize that Founder and Owner Francis J. Cuomo and his team operate in multiple locations, all nestled in the pasta presentedbeautiful backdrop of Promenade at Bonita Bay. Examples include the Gift Basket Shop, Pastaria and Banquet Room, and since these are not commonly found on the same grounds as a market and restaurant, they are often overlooked. But today, we want to change that by telling you about the DeRomo’s difference.

DeRomo’s Pastaria is not only our fresh pasta production area, it’s the cornerstone of our fresh approach and authentic Italian food/beverage destination — taking us from a homemade process to some of the more popular menu items in our restaurant, market and catering venues. When you think of the Gift Basket Shop, picture multipurpose products in every square inch of our unique store. These include DeRomo’s branded products, housewares, Italian gadgets, cookbooks and little trinkets. Oftentimes, seeing is believing, but since you’ve come this far, stay with us as we indulge your most powerful senses and give you every reason to visit DeRomo’s at your earliest convenience.

Pasta-Making Process

deromo's pastaIf there’s one thing that chefs Rosemarie and Rainer Drygala know beyond a shadow of a doubt, it’s pasta. Each workday, they enter DeRomo’s Pastaria in uniform, topped with aprons, gloves and hair restraints in preparation for production and customers to come. They start with a plan to replace standard stock items, as well as retail and special order requests, and meet the demands of wholesale accounts. First comes gluten-free pasta, as the air and equipment is free of any wheat flour. Next is refrigerated fresh pasta cuts and stuffed pastas that are frozen upon completion and made with the very best durum wheat flour and semolina.

Flour and eggs are weighed and mixed for 20 minutes before they are laminated and rolled out. Then, they are cut into long, flat Tagliatelle-style pasta cuts like Pappardelle, Fettuccine & Capellini — thanks to state-of-the-art pasta-making equipment from Italy. The Drygalas even customize Ravioli with stuffing and are very proud of their extruded- style pastas that have unique shapes and are made with bronze dies — Rigatoni, Bucatini, Rotelle, Mafalda and more.

All products are cut and packaged, making up a collection of about 16-20 items that are showcased in the Gourmet Market seven days per week and sold in our Gift Basket Shop that houses the production area. As you enter the shop, just remember that pasta, noodles and the like have nourished mankind for thousands of years, and if these are consumed in moderation, they can make for a healthy diet.

All questions about fresh-item pricing, recipes or production methods can be quickly answered by watching the pasta chefs work their magic. You may even catch a glimpse of Mr. Cuomo and others taste testing a hot-off-the-press pasta sample.

Gift Shop Selection and Preparation

When it comes to sorting through our plethora of products and determining which ones get placed on our shelves, we rely on DeRomo’s history of how products perform and how successful and gift shop selectionpopular they have been. We combine those with new and innovative items that will work well in our creative gift baskets. For example, special celebration, milestone birthday, anniversary or Realtor®-gifted baskets may contain a wide variety of savory or sweet goodies, wine or champagne — all professionally placed and wrapped with coordinating colors for the occasion or based on customer requests.

For guests who desire to replicate the cooking traditions of their parents or grandparents, we provide kitchen gadgets, pasta machines, accessories and several types of flour used in pasta making. Those who wish to take a truly personalized approach can visit our deli, bakery and many other fresh departments for mouthwatering delicacies and select their favorites for a gift basket creation like no other. We welcome orders by phone or email and can ship products — except alcohol — anywhere in the U.S.

To experience “Our own Little Italy in Southwest Florida,” stop by or call us at (239) 325-3583. Otherwise, order our products on Amazon by searching DeRomo’s or DeRomo’s Gourmet Market & Restaurant.