By Scott Cronick
Bobby Hettmannsperger always needs a new project to work on. Since taking over Essl’s Dugout in West Atlantic City in 2018, Bobby and his wife Carey have been thinking about what that next big project was going to be for them.
About two years ago, it hit Bobby that there was a void in the eastern part of Atlantic County. That void was an Italian market.
Sure, people could drive 30 to 45 minutes to Hammonton for Bagliani’s, but Hettmannsperger not only had a hunch, but he knew an Italian market at the shore would kill it.
Two years later, Il Porcellino Italian Market opened its doors Thanksgiving week in the Cardiff Plaza Shopping Center in Egg Harbor Township.
And, take it from me, this is the Italian market this area deserves.
“Our biggest thing is catering, and we outgrew Essl’s,” Bobby Hettmannsperger said of the market, whose name translates to little piggy. “So, we thought we would find something else and open a little Italian place and do catering out of there and … well, I think we are going to need to find a new place to do catering from soon because let’s just say Il Porcellino has really been welcomed. Our customers have been really happy with what we have been doing so far. I think we are going to outgrow this space very quickly. Bagliani’s is great, but there is a lot of room, certainly room for both of us. People, including me, are still going to go to Bagliani’s, but maybe we can save them that drive to Hammonton, or maybe we have some things they don’t or things they like at our place that we will become known for. We can both exist and do well. We are both Italian markets, but we are also very different.”
Welcome to Il Porcellino
For starters, Il Porcellino is a stunning market. With a modern red color scheme, dark hardwood floors, black metal racks for dry goods and a plethora of refrigerated display cases, including a giant counter area that runs nearly the entire length of the space, Il Porcellino is an inviting and beautiful place to shop.
Walk in and customers are greeted by that main counter featuring deli meats sliced to order to your specifications and a case displaying a variety of meats and prepared items. Those meats range from imported Italian delicacies and homemade sausages to American favorites to meats roasted in house.
Imported deli meats include two types of mortadella, prosciutto aged anywhere from 14 to 64 months, porchetta, capicola, pepperoni, Genoa salami, Italian hams and more.
The meat case features several types of steaks from filet to aged New York strip to wagyu, which will arrive soon after customers requested it. Take home a pork tomahawk and grill it, grab all four of their homemade sausages – sweet, hot, fennel and broccoli rabe with provolone – experiment with ground beef, veal and pork and make your own meatballs at home with the perfect mixture, or, better yet, just buy some of Essl’s awesome precooked meatball available by the pound. There’s also chicken, pork and veal cutlets, ground sirloin made from the scraps of the quality steaks – meaning some of the best ground sirloin you will ever have – precooked Italian dishes like braciola and more.
Il Porcellino also offers a nice cheese selection and makes its own mozzarella in-house daily.
“The cheese selection will keep growing,” Hettmannsperger said. “Right now, all of the imported cheeses we offer are pre-cut, but soon we will be cutting our own cheeses like taleggio, gorgonzola, Reggiano and things like that.”
Side dishes and appetizers can also be found in abundance, including 15 different types of olives – look out for that olive bar to debut soon – along with stuffed shooters, stuffed banana peppers and 24 different kinds of prepared salads made with everything from black rice to farro to broccoli rabe and roasted peppers to stuffed artichokes to roasted veggies. There’s even some Essl’s goodies like their famous potato salad and cole slaw.
“You really have to come in and see it to truly understand the sheer variety of what we offer,” Hettmannsperger said. “It’s pretty mind-blowing when you see it all.”
There’s also homemade pastas, soups, sauces, roasted peppers and pre-made entrees including meat or cheese lasagna and $14.99 specials that include dinners like domestic lamb chop with potato and asparagus. And, just like Essl’s, you can expect a wide variety of soups including their award-winning New England clam chowder, pasta fagioli, escarole, butternut squash and seasonal flavors.
Of course, there is a wide array of imported, quality balsamic vinegars, olive oils, Italian sodas, imported dry pastas, canned and bottled products from Cento and other brands, polentas, Arborio rice, breadcrumbs, homemade crostini and croutons for salads and delicacies from around the world. There’s even mixers for drinks, including an olive-based one to make Bloody Marys that Hettmannsperger raves about.
“One of the most important things when putting all of this together was making sure our distributors were able to supply us with the specific product we wanted from Italy,” Hettmannsperger said “And we have it all figured out for the most part. We get deliveries six days a week, and anything we want at this point is usually no more than two days away.”
In the refrigerated section, you will also find some amazing frozen pastas, including a variety of ravioli flavors such as cheese, lobster, butternut squash and more.
“I am part owner of a pasta company in upstate New York, and that’s where the majority of our pasta comes from,” Hettmannsperger said. “It’s frozen because I don’t really believe in fresh pasta because all pasta is fresh if produced and stored properly. I would buy some string pasta fresh, but the rest of it is better to have frozen because it only has a three-day shelf life, and I would rather the customer have those three days than me, and then you don’t have to cook it that night. Our pasta is awesome. When you cut that lobster ravioli, you see the lobster in there.”
Il Porcellino makes it easy to prepare food at home. Grab a dozen ravioli, a quart of their pre-made sauces – choose from Pomodoro, marinara, pesto, a la vodka, alfredo, white clam, fra diavalo and more – and a loaf of bread and you have a meal for four for about 20 bucks.
And don’t leave without trying some of Carey’s famous homemade desserts, which are on full display.
Fresh cannoli include flavors such as fall harvest, eggnog, Nutella, ricotta and chocolate, plus there’s bread pudding, tiramisu, cheesecake and about 10 flavors of biscotti such as chocolate candy cane, peppermint with white chocolate, chocolate cranberry, anise, lemon with lemon glaze, orange cranberry walnut with orange glaze and more.
“Carrie is going crazy on biscotti right now,” Hettmannsperger said with a laugh. “Like a lot of the desserts here, we had them first at Essl’s, so why not offer them here, too?”
Bread plays a major role at Il Porcellino with a variety of styles arriving daily from Liscio’s Bakery in Philadelphia as well as bakeries from New York. From soft, Italian-style rolls to seeded twists to artisan Italian crustiness, you shouldn’t leave Il Porcellino without a loaf under your arm.
“You will never find a stale loaf of bread in our market, ever,” Hettmannsperger said.
A market of this stature is a major undertaking to open during a week where you have to cater Thanksgiving meals for 2,800 people, including more than 250 fresh birds.
“It was the right time to open,” Hettmannsperger said with a straight face. “We wanted to get it open and knew we had a great product and everything was finally in place. Ninety percent of our product is direct from Italy, so we figured, ‘Let’s do it! Let’s pull off that Band-Aid.’ And it was a crazy week, but a great week. I always thought we needed an Italian market around here with good, quality product. And by the response in the first 10 days, our customers have validated that.”
More than a market
If you haven’t noticed already, Il Porcellino is more than a place to grab some Italian items, it’s like a market inside an Italian restaurant, or vice versa.
“That’s because we are a chef-driven place,” Hettmannsperger said. “There are five chefs here who all have about 30 years of experience each. Just like in Italy, it’s all about taste and quality with us. Our chefs all have their different strengths, and together we are really an amazing team. I couldn’t do this without them. When we are selling things in the market, we want our customers to ask questions how to prepare things, so we can help them. We want them to be successful at home so that they come back again and buy more ingredients from us.”
That said, aside from the pre-made items, Il Porcellino makes about a dozen sandwiches to order at their massive counter, all served in 6- or 11-inch sizes on seeded or unseeded Liscio bread, and the portions are impressive while not overdoing it.
“I was born and raised 20 minutes outside of Philly – I have been a transplant here for about 30 years now – and I like a good Philly roll,” Hettmannsperger said. “My wife is the opposite; she likes the A.C. roll with the harder crust. But I won this round.”
Each sandwich sounds better than the last one. Highlights include Nonna’s Meatball with a homemade beef, veal and pork blend, imported provolone, marinara and shredded parmesan; my favorite, the Sloppy Giuseppe, with Bolognese sauce and fresh, smoked mozzarella; The Italian that is the most flavorful and most different Italian in the area thanks to its imported ingredients including 14-month-aged prosciutto, mortadella, Genoa salami, capicola, provolone, tomato, red onion, extra virgin olive oil, lettuce and tomato; The Milan with roasted turkey, provolone, Giardiniera (pickled veggies), shredded parm and au jus; chicken parm; chicken Saltimbocca with chicken cutlets, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, mushroom salad and sage; and the signature Il Porcellino with roast Italian pork, sharp provolone, broccoli rabe, roasted long hots and pork au jus.
What’s next?
Like this story began, Hettmannsperger said he always needs a project. So, is he taking the time to sit back and relish this moment of opening an awesome Italian market and sandwich shop after two years of planning?
Nope.
“But it does validate this belief I had that this market was something this area really needed,” he said. “Seeing our customers come in and the community embracing what we built here means everything to us. Me, my wife, my team, we are all exhausted, but this is our passion. This is not a 9-to-5 job. It’s 24/7, and we would have it no other way. That fire drives you to do better, and we will do better, and we will keep improving and evolving. There are new things on the shelves every day, and new sandwiches and prepared items and desserts we are creating every day. But, yes, I need that next project, and let’s just say I already have some things in the works.”
We can’t wait!
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com, and he also co-owns Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, while working on various projects, including charitable efforts, throughout the area. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
