Provolone, Pepperoni, and Pesto. The Godfathers Panini

I was very clear with myself before setting off on this food project adventure; no restaurants or anything of the sort. It was going to be too easy to look up the country's top “It Spots” for each city, read the online reviews, and show up there like some self-professing Instagram foodie looking for his next hashtag, yawn…

After hearing the history of a notable Canadian institution with Italian roots, given to me via an incredible sales pitch by my friend Steve. Where he alluded to perfectly aged, cured meats hanging from the ceiling, pickup truck-size wheels of cheese rolling out of the cooler, and the magnetic personality of some Italian Stallion named Carlo, I caved. I needed to find out what all the hype was about. I wanted to drink from a fountain of olive oil and stuff my saddle bags with salami! Like falling off the rails of a crash diet, I told myself I would just break my own rules once and then get right back on track. Well, off the rails both plan and diet we went!

Italians Frank & Gina Giambattista arrived in Regina in the late 1950s seeking a better life for themselves and their family. After transitioning from sun-soaked Italy to the cold Canadian prairies, their first winter nearly had them kissing the land of frigid frost goodbye. Luckily they survived, and by 1966 had purchased a small confectionary store at 1611 Victoria Avenue, which soon blossomed into an Italian imports store and deli. 

By 1979 the youngest Giambattista, Carlo, who had worked alongside his mother for years made the final commitment to go from songmaker to sandwich maker, opting to trade his musical ambitions for a life in the family business. More than 40 years later he’s still rocking the deli along with the next generation of Giambattistas.

The location at 1611 Victoria Avenue has a lengthy history and before it was a confectionery or a deli, it was home to the Free Methodist Church. Today, if you took down the signage and painted over the beautiful family murals, it would blend in with the other homes on the block. When I walked up to the locked front door with no lights on inside, I thought maybe I’d missed the memo that they were going out of business. Confused and disappointed, I turned around to go back to my bike. I then noticed a brand new warehouse-sized building behind me with the Italian Star logo in the top corner…apparently they hadn’t closed at all, they had expanded!

Stepping through the front door of this new location transports you from the humble streets of little Regina to the tantalizing aromas of Little Italy. The rich smells of an espresso bar fill the entrance air. There are shelves of antipasto, imported truffle salts, half-century-old bottles of balsamic vinegar, a buffet of olive oils, and pounds of pasta stacked to the ceiling. The whole place is a daze of delicious distractions. I hadn’t quite reached the deli at the back before someone spotted me. If I wanted access to the kitchen I would first need to get approval from the Godfather. Like a scene from a New York gangster movie, I was quickly ushered from the bustling front of the business into a small quiet room tucked way back in the warehouse hoping to gain access via the head of this Italian family. 

Expecting to meet an old man smoking a cigar with a couple of wise guys on either side of him sipping Chianti in muscle shirts, I was a bit on edge making my way into the room. Inside was the Godfather himself, Carlo, and his daughter Marina. Instead of intimidations, cigars, and wine (though I was offered some), I was met with a full-body handshake, an endless supply of one-line jokes, and some entertaining father-daughter banter. I was in!

Not only does the store have good roots, but so does the family. Carlos is the real deal Italian Stallion; with olive skin (reflective of his Italian heritage), along with his captivating eyes and thick head of wavy gelled hair, it was clear I had met the Godfather himself! Add to this a magnetic Vince Vaughn-like personality blended with the salesmanship of Ron Popeil, and I could soon see why there were regular lineups and an ever-expanding business. To his left, his equally as stunning daughter, Marina.

We quickly got to chatting, as you do when you’re around Italians, and I asked Marina what it is that she does around here. 

“As an owner, I am everywhere! I’ll go to where it’s most important for me to help out that day. I work in the deli area, make paninis, make and design charcuteries boxes & trays, salads/kitchen work, social media, shelf re-stocking, we make calzones every week…you name it. If I’m not in the office catching up on emails and orders I’m probably making a mastermind of something new to put on the menu in which always makes the staff a little nervous. Haha!” 

    As a former art student, she said these days she lets out her inner artist through the charcuterie boards and can create a variety of themes. One of her signature designs is the Wizard Of Oz charcuterie. Picture Dorothy & Toto brought to life via pancetta and provolone. 

    Marina explains that one of the hardest parts of the job is managing the employee's happiness. “If they’re happy, we’re happy. I try to make sure their mental health is good, it's the biggest thing I worry about. “

    Having worked with her father for a number of years, I ask them how they like working together day in and day out?
 Marina “It's all I know” 
Carlo “It's great, my son and wife do such a great job, but Marnia can deal with my short attention span and pick up where I left off. “

Marina “I love working with him, he’s cute and he’s my dad ”
Carlo ”I’m thankful when she’s in the room and I can give her praise”

Marina ”I miss the old days, when we were side by side slicing meat and making sandwiches, now with more staff we don’t spend as much time working side by side”.

The duo goes on to explain that the whole family works here, including Carlo's son Gino & Marina's fiancé Evan. As well as Carlo’s wife Heather, the whip-cracker, the one who gets things done around here.  The whole family plays hard and works hard together. You can take the Italians out of Italy, but you can’t take Italy out of the Italians.

    Carlo then takes me on a tour of the store. First stop, the kitchen, where fresh dough is rising for the scratch-made sun-dried tomato ciabatta, garlic ciabatta, and kalamata olive ciabatta. Next, we pass through the deli where meats and cheese run the European gamut. Wedges of parmesan, wheels of balsamic cheddar, smoked gouda, brie, blue, it’s all here. Staring back from the other side are stacks of mortadella, homemade salami, perfectly cured prosciutto, and a plethora of pepperoni. I’m not going to make it out of here without at least 5000 calories more in my mouth than I entered with.
    
    We walked around for nearly 45 minutes while Carlo explained the highlights of the family business. The store isn’t so big that it takes nearly an hour to walk around, but we never made it more than three feet without Carlo greeting a customer by name and having a quick chat about what they usually get and how their family is doing. Carlo seems to have gotten his dedication to the business while working with his mom six days a week for roughly twenty years, a lady who spent time behind the counter until she was 85.

    We end back in the deli, my favorite spot, and the Italian Stallion starts to organize the 5000 calories I knew I would be coming face to face with in an Italian kitchen. First, Kayleigh, the lovely lady in charge of the days special prepares me a tender veal parmesan with truffle chips, freshly fried slices of potatoes sprinkled with an addictive truffle salt. I had 2000 calories down, now just 3000 to go! Next, we slide over to the sandwich section where Carlo lays out the ingredients for his famous Panini. While making that finger around the ear symbol to emphasize craziness, he says in the first five days they opened, the staff turned out over 3000 of these Paninis!

He starts with one of the freshly baked ciabatta buns, followed by an olive oil and balsamic dressing mix, mustard, provolone, mortadella, salami, and some of the homemade pepperoni I’d spotted earlier. Next, he confirms I like spicy things and digs into Mama Gina’s La Bomba Super Spicy Spread. A mix of banana peppers, jalapenos, and a few other secret family ingredients. He then finishes it with a snowstorm of dry feta and a shower of homemade pesto. For a touch of showmanship, Carlo lifts an 18” bread knife beside his head and proceeds to spin it like a drumstick while the employee behind him takes a couple of steps back as though he’s seen this trick backfire a time or two, haha!

With enough food for a family of five, Carlo grabs an empty salami box and puts in my veal parm, my panini, a handful of pepperoni sticks, a travel-size container of the truffle salt, and a few other goodies putting us well past the 5000 calorie mark. He insists I need this bounty in order to survive on my journey. 

In typical Italian fashion, Carlo then gathers the whole family for a group photo by the cheese before we move the congregation outside for another photo around Goose. Then like a delivery driver in Vietnam, I strap my oversized takeout box to the back of an already overfilled dirt bike by using a black plastic garbage bag I had to keep the seat dry if it rained, and set off down the road eight pounds heavier than I arrived. 
Pieno come un uovo! Ciao!

Recipe:

Italian Star Panini With Mama Gina Spicy Spread

• Scratch-made ciabatta bun 
• 1 TBSP olive oil & balsamic dressing blend
• 1 TSP yellow mustard
• 4 oz Provolone 
• 4 oz Mortadella
• 4 oz Salami
• 2 oz Pepperoni
• 2 oz Spicy Spread
• 3 oz Dry Feta
• 1 oz Pesto

    Ciabatta Bun: Make your own ciabatta bun or source from a top-notch local bakery. The bigger the better, in the case of The Italian Star, the bun was about the size of my face!

    Mama Gina’s Spicy Spread: 4 banana peppers, 2 pickled jalapenos, 1 TBSP olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Roughly blend the mix in a food processor.

    Olive oil and Balsamic Dressing Blend: 2 TBSP olive oil, 1 TBSP balsamic dressing, a dollop of honey, & ¼ TSP Dijon mustard. Mix ingredients vigorously with a small whisk or shake in a bottle. 

    Pesto: ¼ cup pine nuts, 1 TBSP lemon juice, 1 TSP crushed garlic, pinch of salt, & a pinch of pepper. Handful of fresh basil leaves, 6 TBSP olive oil, & 3 TBSP grated parmesan cheese. 
    In a food processor blend the pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper. Once blended, add in the basil leaves and quickly pulse until broken down. Next, with the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil until smooth. Less oil = thicker. More oil = smoother. Then add in grated parm and pulse a couple more times until blended.

    Assembly: Slice the bun, spread balsamic blend on one side, and mustard on the other. Next, layer on the provolone as well as the meats, cover it with feta, and kiss it with the pesto. Close the Panini, spin the knife dramatically before slicing and yell the phrase “Mamma Mia!” before taking your first bite.