Located on White Plains road next to Eastchester Fish and close by the CVS lies a small Italian deli, Mona Lisa, that focuses heavily on authenticity and quality. Mona Lisa has been around for 25 years, and it’s all thanks to Claudio Michienzi and his brother, Fausto.
Claudio Michienzi moved to America from the south of Italy — Calabria, to be exact — in 1972. Claudio Michienzi's pssion for food developed soon after he moved to the United States and started working in a small deli, Mercurio's, in Mount Vernon.
Mercurio’s is no longer open, but it was the driving force behind Claudio Michienzi’s ambition to open a deli of his own. “I loved everything,” he said. “I loved working with the customers, and I especially loved importing foods from Italy. That was my passion.”
Ironically, Claudio Michienzi did not grow up around the deli culture. “My dad was a carpenter in Italy. He was not in the food business whatsoever,” Michienzi said.
Claudio Michienzi's brother Fausto joined his brother in America 20 years later, and the two opened shop. Sibling rivalry plagues even the closest of brothers, but not these two. “It’s perfect,” Claudio Michienzi said. “We work very well together. We argue once in a while, but rarely. So far, so good.”
Mona Lisa offers an array of specialty items that you won’t find in other stores, ranging from sliced meats to rare cheeses. So what exactly is imported? “Everything is imported - from special cheeses to olive oils. All of it is number one. If we’re importing it, it’s got to be number one.” Claudio Michienzi said.
The deli also has an extremely successful catering service. “We do a lot of things. We specialize in catering. We cater school functions, PTA meetings, sport events and a lot of graduations. A LOT of graduations,” Claudio Michienzi emphasized.
Another factor that pushes Mona Lisa further is their commitment to outstanding quality. “Quality is what counts. Everything is homemade, everything is from scratch," said Claudio Michienzi, whose wife, Silvana, prepares all the food. “The way she cooks at home is the way she cooks here.”
It’s obvious what makes Mona Lisa stand out, but Claudio Michienzi doesn’t compare his store to other markets. “I don’t think that way. We just try to be the best in everything," he said.
Some of Claudio Michienzi's favorite store products are the Parmigiano from Parma and the Pecorino cheeses, which come from multiple parts of Italy, including Sardinia, Tuscany and Calabria.
Claudio Michienzi has seen generations of local families pass through his store throughout the past 25 years. He said, however, that the area itself hasn’t changed much. “Things don’t look that different from 25 years ago," he said - a reflection that attests to Mona Lisa's continuing longevity and popularity amongst local customers.
Mona Lisa is located at 829 White Plains Road and open every day, Monday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. On Sundays, the store is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call (914) 723-3493 Read More
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