Boccalone Salumeria

Apparently salumi is the new cupcake because salumi plates and appetizers have been popping up on menus all over the Bay Area. And because people just can’t seem to get enough of their cured meats, Boccalone Salumeria, has opened in the Ferry Building to make sure we know that shopping for pork isn’t just about bringing home the bacon.

Here’s the website blurb:

“Boccalone Salumeria is the first retail location of the artisanal salumi venture from Chris Cosentino and Mark Pastore of Incanto Restaurant. The Salumeria features more than 20 varieties of Boccalone’s handmade cured meats. Boccalone’s salumi are handcrafted in small batches across the Bay in Oakland, using sustainably raised, heritage-breed pork and the highest quality spices and salts.”

We bought a relatively basic salami to test the waters when we visited on Tuesday (fatty, great with mustard and the cheese we got from Bi-Rite), but they do have some interesting options including a Brown Sugar and Fennel flavored salami as well as some rather nice looking pancetta and prosciutto. The shop itself is crisp and clean looking–a warm yellow paint job with a bright red accent color that basically makes it impossible to walk by without saying, ”Hey, what’s all this?”

Shop owners Cosentino and Pastore have been kind of a big deal with Incanto in Noe Valley for some time, making the Chronicle’s list of 100 best Bay Area restaurants this year, so we can imagine that they know what they’re doing with this specialty food store.

That said, now that we’ve passed Salami 101 we’re ready to try out one of the panini’s or even, gasp, a meat cup or some blood sausage.

Boccalone Salumeria [Official Site]
Incanto [Menupages]
Incanto [Official Site]

[Photo via bgreenlee/Flickr]

Boccalone Salumeria