The Sidney Church Group enjoying a meal at the Bainbridge Market and Delicatessen. In addition to serving meals, deli meats, cheeses, and desserts, the shop also offers specials and packages for catering and parties. (Photo from the Bainbridge Market and Delicatessen Facebook page)

BAINBRIDGE — The recently established Bainbridge Market and Delicatessen is open for business and serving up an array of comfort foods made from scratch with fresh, local ingredients.

Located at 1 Freiot Avenue in Bainbridge, the shop is owned and operated by Armando Petruccelli, a second generation Italian-American who switched from the beauty industry to serve delicious Italian cuisine, and Martine Merino, an Argentinian chef who has spent most of his life cooking Italian meals and has experience in several Queens- and Manhattan-based restaurants.

The duo opened the doors to the Bainbridge Market and Delicatessen on November 1, with the plan of having two sides to the shop: the deli, and the market.

"The building is basically situated with a right and a left. The right side of the building we’re going to open up a market soon, where we’ll have a lot of products for sale. Right now we’re utilizing the delicatessen side of the building for everything, so we have products all over the place," said Petruccelli.

Their focus is on providing fresh, quality food to the community at an affordable price. Petruccelli said everything they make is from scratch, down to the hand-cut french fries and homemade pasta. They also do their best to utilize local businesses, such as local honey, maple syrup, and beef suppliers.

"We are a Boar’s Head delicatessen, plus the food that my partner Martine cooks, and we basically have fresh food every day. We do everything from scratch: the french fries are hand cut, our hamburgers are made here. We try to use local purveyors," he explained. "The maple syrup, we use local maple companies. We have honey, and anything we use honey in we use a local honey company."

"We're trying to keep Bainbridge in Bainbridge," he added.

Another big focus for the delicatessen is their authentic Italian cuisine, including panettone and baccala for Christmas, various pasta dishes, arancini, mortadella, soppressata, prosciutto di Parma, ciabatta and focaccia bread, and more. They even create their own dishes with Italian ingredients, such as the newly-developed Godfather Sandwich.

"The Godfather is our latest sandwich we just developed last week. Provolone, mortadella, soppressata. It’s a list of Italian ingredients. Balsamic glaze, olive oil. It’s a wonderful, wonderful sandwich," said Petruccelli.

Also available at the deli are six different soups: escarole and beans, roasted tomato, creamy carrot or creamy squash, vegetarian chili, and potato leek.

But delicious comfort food isn't the only thing served at the Bainbridge Market; Petruccelli said there are various desserts they make as well, including bread and rice pudding, tiramisu, Italian cheesecake, budino, and chocolate bundt cake.

While the menu already covers a wide range of foods, Petruccelli said he and Merino love a challenge and are willing to take requests from customers for off-menu items, sometimes with an Italian spin.

"Martine [Merino] just loves food and cooking," said Petruccelli. "A woman requested bread pudding, and it was on our bucket list too to make, and rice pudding, so we made rice pudding yesterday and bread pudding today. And we try to put a little Italian flair to it, so the rice pudding will be made with risotto, and the bread pudding will be made with panettone. So it’s fun to mix."

"We’re trying to touch a little bit of everyone’s palette," he added.

The Bainbridge Market and Delicatessen is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The shop also offers rentals of the space for private dining and parties, as well as catering services.

While they don't have a dedicated delivery service, Petruccelli said they will provide deliveries to area residents when possible.

For more information on catering and delivery, contact the deli at 607-320-4555.

Looking toward the future, Petruccelli and Merino plan to expand the other half of the shop to become the market, as well as expand out onto the approximately 500-square-foot patio, which they call Nonna Rosina's Giardina, or Grandma Rosina's Garden, after Petruccelli's grandmother.

Ultimately though, Petruccelli said he and Merino are just happy to be exploring an industry and a service that they are both so passionate about.

"It was one of both of our passions, Martine [Merino] and I. So it’s fulfilling and the niche that we’ve wanted," he said. "Our phrase is comfort food. Fresh, homemade food, and comfort food is what we like to call it. Nothing like a fresh bowl of pasta."

More information on the Bainbridge Market and Delicatessen can be found at BainbridgeDeli.com and on the Bainbridge Market and Delicatessen Facebook page.