A dining critic (like myself) has the unique and near-daily opportunity (some would call it a burden) of eating out at fancy restaurants a lot.
While our co-workers sit around cubicles pushing paper, we critics sit around white tablecloths pushing forks. We sample steaks and seafood, pork loins and pasta, fennel and foie gras. We sip wine. We assess bread, butter and coffee. We consider menu design. We analyze chair comfort, noise level and lighting schemes. We calculate tip after tip. We order appetizers, salads, entrees and dessert.
Lots and lots of dessert.
It’s not a bad living, really. I sure ain’t complaining.
But there are times when, say after one too many nights of cold soup, stale chips or snotty service, when all a dining critic (like myself) wants to do is high-tail it to an unassuming deli, grab a sandwich to go, and sit in the park to scarf it down, unencumbered by waiters, menus, manners.
When that mood strikes, my favorite place is Neighborhood Italian Deli (formerly Deli Italia) on Wadsworth Boulevard at West 20th Avenue.
In a world where sandwich shops get slicker and more gimmicky by the day, Neighborhood Italian Deli is decidedly old-school. No corporate logos. No bouncy satellite-radio soundtracks. No printed to- go bags. Just big hunks of fresh bread stuffed with flavorful ingredients and wrapped in plain old butcher paper.
In other words, exactly the kind of place I crave on my days off.
Not exactly a restaurant, this storefront shop is more like a deli-grocer-gelato- fresh mozzarella-tapenade- panettone vendor with a few seats for in-store eating. No table service; order at the counter and grab a chair.
Choose the porchetta sandwich, flavorful, peppery slow-roasted pork piled with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. Or “The Doctor,” a generous stack of prosciutto and sauteed spinach with garlic.
Heat freaks will get fired up about the “Dante’s Inferno” with hot salami, hot habanero paste, spicy capicolla and provolone. Veg-heads will score with the “Ricksta”: eggplant, peppers and mozzarella.
And short of a flight to New Orleans, Neighborhood Italian Deli may be your best local bet for a muffaletta sandwich, spicy-savory- sharp with olives ham, salami, oregano and cheese.
Eat your sandwich at one of the small tables in the main room, or take it away. Each is made to order with soft, fresh hoagie bread. Two sizes (large and small), two prices ($5.49 and $6.99). Add in an Italian soda, and the best lunch you’ve had all week clocks in well under budget.
Beyond sandwiches, Neighborhood Italian Deli sells a wide range of house- made prepared foods: lasagna, chicken marsala, rolled beef braciole, spaghetti and meatballs.
Skip the lackluster pot roast in favor of the gorgonzola-and-spinach stuffed pork tenderloin, a moist, beautifully seasoned lunch or supper. It, like all the hot entrees, comes with a side of vegetables or salad.
Call ahead during the day, and dinner will be hot and ready for you to pick up on the way home from the office (although you’ll have to leave a little early; the deli closes at 5 p.m. on weekdays). You can even bring in your own lasagna pan, then pick it up the next day, when it will be filled with dense, delicious, cheesy meat or cheese lasagna. Warm it up at home and, well, decide for yourself whether you want to lie about who made it.
Speaking of cheese, the folks at Neighborhood Italian Deli make fresh mozzarella every morning. If you’ve built a life on grocery-store mozzarella, the clean, milky taste of the fresh stuff will be a revelation. Slice it with a fresh tomato and a few leaves of basil for a sublime caprese.
Bonus: The folks at Neighborhood Italian Deli cater any party or gathering, large or small. Just call ahead.
Double bonus: Beyond the deli counter, Neighborhood Italian Deli is an excellent resource for imported Italian foodstuffs. Olive oils. Amaretti cookies. San Marzano tomatoes. Carnaroli rice for risotto. Vinegars and grains and olives and antipasti and artisan pastas and tins of anchovies.
What’s more, you can pick up a pound of bacalau (salt- cod) for about $15 a pound. Take it home, soak it for a couple of days, chunk it into single-portion sizes, simmer it in white wine and garlic, then toss in a handful of spinach for an unbelievably flavorful summertime Florentine soup.
There are other worthwhile sandwich shops and Italian deli-grocers in the area, including Vinnola’s on West 44th Avenue, Mr. Lucky’s on East Sixth Avenue and the new Fisher Clarke Urban Deli in the Bonnie Brae area. And I am an emphatic, continued fan of Spinelli’s in Park Hill.
But there’s something about the mom-and-pop- ness of Neighborhood Italian Deli, the rough-around- the-edge-ness that comes from extreme focus on good food and quality ingredients (not gimmicks), that sets it apart, in my mind, from the crowd.
Stop in for a porchetta sandwich, and you’ll see what I mean.
Tucker Shaw: 303-954-1958 or dining@denverpost.com
Neighborhood Italian Deli
Deli/Italian. 1990 Wadsworth Blvd., Lakewood, 303-238-7815
** RATING | Very Good
Atmosphere: Ramshackle but clean and friendly Italian deli, with a few small tables, a large deli case and gourmet groceries.
Service: No-frills. Can be hectic at peak times.
Wine: Not so much.
Plates: Sandwiches $5.49 or $6.99. Dinner combos $9.99.
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday
Details: All credit cards. Parking lot. Wheelchair accessible. Expect to wait for a table during peak mealtime hours. Pick up some gelato to take home.
Five visits
Our star system:
****: Excellent
***: Great
**: Very Good
*: Good
