Eusebi-deli (formerly known as Garlic): leave the gun, take the Cannoli

For reasons that will remain unknown I found myself at the Forge shopping centre on Saturday morning. Those of you who know the Forge will know what I mean, but I was kinda scared. I had not been there for over 15 years and wondered if it had changed. Maybe it was the fact that I was there as it opened but it was ok, bordering on the pleasant. They had even been successful in enforcing the smoking ban. Wonders will never cease.

To make my jaunt even more pleasurable I headed off to Eusebi deli (formerly known as Garlic) on Shettleston Road.



This is a little gem of a place, it's obviously a family run place and one that knows their regulars by their first names. First there was Arthur whom everyone hugged and kissed, and then Isabelle who had coffee in her Sambuca, (I made a note to start off my Saturday in that way) and for someone who has their free bus pass thats quite cool.
I ended up speaking to Giovanna whom I believe to be the owner. I told her it was my first time there and that I had heard they were opening branch in the West End. She said it was true and they were moving to Gibson St, home of my favourite places- Stravaigin.
I think it will be a good location for them and am looking forward to having them close by. The only competition nearby is Sonny and Vito's which is more of a baked goods/cafe kind of place. For what it's worth, I hope they stick to what they are good at and that is being specialists in Italian deli and importing speciality Italian produce that are hard to find. Their main competitors are Heart Buchanan and Delizique both of which tend to favour French and Scottish fancies and luxury foodie goods from around the world. As far as I know there are no speciality Italian deli's in the West End. I ended up having to go all the way to Valvona and Crolla in Edinburgh to get may hands on some Fontina to re-create the truffled egg toast from 'inoteca. Their other strength is that they make old-school Italian pastry on site and those are definitely hard to find.

Here are my spoils



Italian baked Ham, olives (of course) and Goats cheese with truffle in it. I usually don't like goats cheese but love truffle, so went for it. I am glad I did as this was lovely-especially a little bit rolled up in the ham chased down by an olive.

A Soprano moment. We all know that after The Wire, The Sopranos was the best TV series there was. But one thing that the Sopranos excelled in was how it managed to incorporate food into almost every scene. I had always wondered what Cannoli were like, and now I know.



They are yummy.
I also now know why Tony is so fat, and so does HI, he is off to order a shiny tracksuit so he too, can look like Big Pussy.