Since 2019, Andrea Marino has been delighting Sonomans and visitors from near and far with the authentic Italian salumi and other delicacies he makes at his West Napa Street site, Salumeria Ovello. Anna Pier sat down with the proprietor of this marvelously Italian specialty shop to learn about Andrea, and how we got so lucky that he brought his craft to Sonoma for us to enjoy.
Why did you come to Sonoma? Wine and salami are the perfect pairing. We had tried Petaluma, then Colorado near Telluride, but decided on Sonoma in 2016.
Where were you born? I was born in a small town near Torino where my parents had a bakery for 25 years. When I was two we moved to Barbaresco, a tiny village of only 650 people in Piemonte, northern Italy, but it is super famous for its wine, Barbaresco. Both sets of my grandparents lived there and had vineyards. Both couples made salami. There was a big competition between them about whose was better.
Is this a food region? Yes. And it is truffle country. My grandfather taught me how to train a truffle hound. The city of Alba is the center of the white truffle market. In Piemonte, you gather them starting in October until the snow comes. It’s the snow that keeps the ground moist. They haven’t had luck growing them here – it is too dry. I used to gather them myself. But I sold my truffle hound when I came here. My cousin Paolo’s family has had a truffle store in Alba for over 80 years and I order his truffles to sell here.
Other work? For five years I was a teacher in a prominent state culinary school in the town of Mondoví. And I had my own restaurant for 15 years.
Talk about that. It was called Antiné, and three years after I opened it, I got a Michelin star. I kept the star for ten years. It was Italian and French cuisine. I had worked in 27 restaurants worldwide before opening my own. Mine was very small – only 37 seats. It was in a building in Barbaresco from the 1600s. Every January eight friends and I would butcher a pig we had raised for the restaurant. Now I get 500 pounds of pork once a month. Raised locally and from Oregon. I’m very careful about the meat I source.
How did you learn the art of salumeria? Of course I grew up with it around me. When I knew that was what I was going to do in this country, I went back to Italy to work for free for a good friend who had a large salumeria in Barbaresco, to learn the secrets of the trade.
The kitchen is extraordinarily clean – sparkling. That’s very important. I have a fermenting room, where I start the salumi with 90 percent humidity, then slowly reduce it, until the pH is just right. This beautiful tool is my Milanese slicer – it cost $20,000. You have to have one like this to slice prosciutto well. And here is my Canadian oven, a Picard – larger than my car.
You do a lot of baking. My parents were bakers. I bake bread, focaccia, crackers, cakes, biscotti, and at Christmas, panettone. Also I have a smoker, and a rotisserie, where I make porchetta daily. And I make my own pasta. We do lots of desserts – tiramisú, panna cotta, torta di polenta, hazelnut cake. By the way, I source my hazelnuts from Italy. Much tastier. We make our own “nutella” – here’s a spoonful. Taste the difference!
You must work a lot. We are five in all who work here, but it’s true, I am often here from 6 AM to 6 PM.
Days off? I always want to spend them with my 11-year-old daughter Emerie. We enjoy cooking together. She and I have the project of writing a cookbook, for sweets. We will have five recipes for every season. And one of the shop paninos (sandwiches) is the “Emerie,” made of her favorites – roast beef, Dijon mustard, caramelized onions, smoked Gouda, aioli – she loves to promote it to customers.
What do you like about Sonoma? I feel comfortable here. It looks like Alba. And I like that there’s a big Italian community that has been here for generations. Every day someone comes into the store speaking Italian. The Neapolitan singer Pascuale Esposito always visits here when he comes to sing at the Sebastiani.
Other stories about your salumi? In November I go gather porcini on the coast for my porcini salami. I won’t tell anybody where I go, not even my best friend. And I get Cuban cigars here for my original tobacco and cocoa flavored salami. I used to make a tobacco ice cream at my restaurant. I source the wild fennel pollen – it’s as expensive as saffron.
When you were a little boy, what did you dream of being? From the time I was ten I knew I would be a chef. I was always cooking with my mother. She died when I was ten, and then I cooked with my grandmothers. That was better than playing soccer. My grandparents both were grape growers, and they hoped I would take over the vineyards, but I knew what I wanted.
Last thoughts for our readers? This job is a very hard one, it takes lots of devotion. But I’m happy, it’s the best work.
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