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We are Italian food importers. We import real ingredients from Italy to the USA. We are based in the Bronx and we sell our food all over the United States and Canada.
We founded Gustiamo in 1999 as an online retailer with the mission to improve the quality of Italian food in the States. Since then, we have been independently importing the best and most authentic food from Italian farmers and food makers, wonderful people dedicated to their land and traditions. In addition to our online store, we also have a robust wholesale program.
We are a disruptive company, fiercely dedicated to transparency and paying the right price for food. Our work advocating for real San Marzano Tomatoes has been recognized in the NYTimes and we, one restaurant at a time, are giving chefs the opportunity to use real Italian extra virgin olive oil in their kitchens.
Our Gusti Customers, chef and non-chefs alike, are curious and adventurous; they source ingredients and products with great care and pay close attention to craftsmanship, legitimacy, and above all superior quality + taste.
Frances
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Capers. I use them in all my salads and sauces. I also love how they smell. They are so strong, a natural pick me up!
Do you have a current food obsession?
Taking piennolo tomatoes, sauteing them, and serving them over a short pasta dish like casarecce. So so fresh and flavorful.
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
Sicily!
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
When we have our open warehouse sales in the Bronx. Our customers are so excited to stock up on ingredients, It’s so much fun to talk to them.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
Less is more. It is not about heavy. So much of Italian food in the USA is full of heavy low-quality melty cheese. No. That is not Italian food.
Beatrice
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Colatura. I put colatura on so many things. All my vegetables. Pasta con la colatura is one of my go-to dishes. Potatoes with colatura and parsley… sono fantastiche.
Do you have a current food obsession?
Frying in EVOO. To quote Mark Bittman, “this whole notion that olive oil is inappropriate for frying is nonsense.”
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
Salento. Right now we are tasting lots of great Pugliese EVOO.
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
Organizing cases in the warehouse. If my team would let me, I would do that all day long.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
I wish everyone understood the link between cheap inauthentic Italian ingredients and the trivialization and ultimately the disappearance of good Italian farmers and food makers. This is SO MUCH part of the local movement, even if the food is made far away.
Danielle
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Estratto di Pomodoro. I use our Pianogrillo tomato concentrate in everything. I dissolve it in wine first usually, which I learned from Fabrizia Lanza.
Do you have a current food obsession?
Lievito madre. Mother yeast aka sourdough starter.
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I’d go back to Calabria. I have never been to Tropea!
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
Talking to customers on the phone who call to tell us our food is too expensive.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
That the Italian diet, and Mediterranean diet as a whole, means high quality ingredients. When you cook with really, I mean TRULY, good ingredients you have (1) way more delicious food, (2) so much more nutritionally rich food, (3) you are supporting traditional farming and food making and not a piece of crap industrial/corporate food system.
Martina
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Flour. I use Filippo Drago’s flours for everything, from my go-to breakfast muffins to fresh pasta. I am always reaching for his flours in my pantry.
Do you have a current food obsession?
The Gusti Lunch! Seriously, Gusti lunches are famous. If you get an invitation to a Gusti lunch you know that we like you ;) I am the unofficial Gusti Lunch Director. Every day, I take everyone’s random assortment of leftovers and turn them into a feast for the whole team. My goal is to never have any food waste. I *will* make you finish your plate.
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I’ve been to many of the small islands around Sicily but never the main island! I am dying to get to Palermo.
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
I love hanging out with people that come to visit us. Getting a tour of the Gusti Warehouse is fun and special. There is nothing else like it in NY, or in the whole USA for that matter!
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
Please. PLEASE. Less garlic. Did you know that when most Italians use garlic they use just one clove? They don’t even chop it. They cook with it whole and they throw it away before the dish finishes cooking. All you need is a kiss of garlic. Garlicky is not a flavor in Italy. Except for spaghetti aglio e olio, maybe that is one exception in ALL of Italian cooking.
Klea
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
My pantry is never out of pasta! When you have a bag of great pasta like Pasta Faella handy, you know you have a variety of dinner options available and they will all be on point. My favorite shape is Linguine, I cannot resist a chewy, al dente plate of Linguine. In my family my recipe for Linguine allo scoglio (with seafood) is always a hit.
Do you have a current food obsession?
I consider myself a gianduja expert. I have tried all the gianduja spreads on the market. So, when I tasted the chocolate hazelnut spread by Marco Colzani for the first time, it blew my mind. It is completely different from anything I have ever tried. What is more shocking is how three simple and natural ingredients like cacao, Piemontese hazelnuts and sugar can combine in such a rich and creamy confection.
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I have never been to Sicily and I’d love to spend some time in summer harvesting salt with Salvatore Gucciardo in Trapani. I hear their area is a WWF protected natural reserve and I can’t imagine how dreamy it is with the pink flamingos flying around the salt pans.
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
No day looks like the other when you work at Gustiamo, because we all have so many different tasks. My favorite moment is when I get the chance to go to the back of the warehouse to rearrange pallets and shelves. Whether it’s because we are receiving a container from Italy or we have to ship out a big order to the West Coast, it always feels like playing Tetris to me.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
The immense difference between a good extra virgin olive oil and an industrial product refined with solvents. I come from Firenze and I have spent every fall of the last 20 years hand harvesting and milling olives with my family. I am lucky because I could detect a faulty EVOO immediately, but I think that everyone who has the chance to learn more about olive oil should embrace that opportunity. Real EVOO is a game changer!
Gloria
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Ever since I visited Nettuno in Cetara, I use anchovy colatura at the beginning of every savory recipe that I cook. Literally, every time I make a soffritto I add Colatura. It adds depth to everything, just a spoonful or two. It has incredible flavor powers.
Do you have a current food obsession?
Making salty recipes without using actual salt. I am really into using other ingredients (which are salty but not salt itself) to reach the umami flavor I love. See above comment about colatura! Also, anchovies, cheese rind, and capers!
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I have never been to Calabria, I really want to go to Tropea. I have read that the fish there is amazing. The Mediterranean is complex, the Mediterranean Sea has so many different personalities and microclimates. I am from Sardegna, but I am sure that Calabria will be a completely different experience. It is another kind of Mediterranean environment that I would love to see.
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
Organizing the days orders from gustiamo.com. After all the orders are picked, packed, and shipped; there is something very satisfying about closing the day’s order folders.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
The concept of Italian food doesn’t even make sense! Italian food does not exist. But do you know what does exist? Salentino food, Friulano food, Romagnolo food, Logudorese food, Valdostano food!!
Frances
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Capers. I use them in all my salads and sauces. I also love how they smell. They are so strong, a natural pick me up!
Do you have a current food obsession?
Taking piennolo tomatoes, sauteing them, and serving them over a short pasta dish like casarecce. So so fresh and flavorful.
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
Sicily!
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
When we have our open warehouse sales in the Bronx. Our customers are so excited to stock up on ingredients, It’s so much fun to talk to them.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
Less is more. It is not about heavy. So much of Italian food in the USA is full of heavy low-quality melty cheese. No. That is not Italian food.
Beatrice
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Colatura. I put colatura on so many things. All my vegetables. Pasta con la colatura is one of my go-to dishes. Potatoes with colatura and parsley… sono fantastiche.
Do you have a current food obsession?
Frying in EVOO. To quote Mark Bittman, “this whole notion that olive oil is inappropriate for frying is nonsense.”
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
Salento. Right now we are tasting lots of great Pugliese EVOO.
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
Organizing cases in the warehouse. If my team would let me, I would do that all day long.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
I wish everyone understood the link between cheap inauthentic Italian ingredients and the trivialization and ultimately the disappearance of good Italian farmers and food makers. This is SO MUCH part of the local movement, even if the food is made far away.
Danielle
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Estratto di Pomodoro. I use our Pianogrillo tomato concentrate in everything. I dissolve it in wine first usually, which I learned from Fabrizia Lanza.
Do you have a current food obsession?
Lievito madre. Mother yeast aka sourdough starter.
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I’d go back to Calabria. I have never been to Tropea!
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
Talking to customers on the phone who call to tell us our food is too expensive.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
That the Italian diet, and Mediterranean diet as a whole, means high quality ingredients. When you cook with really, I mean TRULY, good ingredients you have (1) way more delicious food, (2) so much more nutritionally rich food, (3) you are supporting traditional farming and food making and not a piece of crap industrial/corporate food system.
Martina
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Flour. I use Filippo Drago’s flours for everything, from my go-to breakfast muffins to fresh pasta. I am always reaching for his flours in my pantry.
Do you have a current food obsession?
The Gusti Lunch! Seriously, Gusti lunches are famous. If you get an invitation to a Gusti lunch you know that we like you ;) I am the unofficial Gusti Lunch Director. Every day, I take everyone’s random assortment of leftovers and turn them into a feast for the whole team. My goal is to never have any food waste. I *will* make you finish your plate.
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I’ve been to many of the small islands around Sicily but never the main island! I am dying to get to Palermo.
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
I love hanging out with people that come to visit us. Getting a tour of the Gusti Warehouse is fun and special. There is nothing else like it in NY, or in the whole USA for that matter!
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
Please. PLEASE. Less garlic. Did you know that when most Italians use garlic they use just one clove? They don’t even chop it. They cook with it whole and they throw it away before the dish finishes cooking. All you need is a kiss of garlic. Garlicky is not a flavor in Italy. Except for spaghetti aglio e olio, maybe that is one exception in ALL of Italian cooking.
Klea
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
My pantry is never out of pasta! When you have a bag of great pasta like Pasta Faella handy, you know you have a variety of dinner options available and they will all be on point. My favorite shape is Linguine, I cannot resist a chewy, al dente plate of Linguine. In my family my recipe for Linguine allo scoglio (with seafood) is always a hit.
Do you have a current food obsession?
I consider myself a gianduja expert. I have tried all the gianduja spreads on the market. So, when I tasted the chocolate hazelnut spread by Marco Colzani for the first time, it blew my mind. It is completely different from anything I have ever tried. What is more shocking is how three simple and natural ingredients like cacao, Piemontese hazelnuts and sugar can combine in such a rich and creamy confection.
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I have never been to Sicily and I’d love to spend some time in summer harvesting salt with Salvatore Gucciardo in Trapani. I hear their area is a WWF protected natural reserve and I can’t imagine how dreamy it is with the pink flamingos flying around the salt pans.
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
No day looks like the other when you work at Gustiamo, because we all have so many different tasks. My favorite moment is when I get the chance to go to the back of the warehouse to rearrange pallets and shelves. Whether it’s because we are receiving a container from Italy or we have to ship out a big order to the West Coast, it always feels like playing Tetris to me.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
The immense difference between a good extra virgin olive oil and an industrial product refined with solvents. I come from Firenze and I have spent every fall of the last 20 years hand harvesting and milling olives with my family. I am lucky because I could detect a faulty EVOO immediately, but I think that everyone who has the chance to learn more about olive oil should embrace that opportunity. Real EVOO is a game changer!
Gloria
Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Ever since I visited Nettuno in Cetara, I use anchovy colatura at the beginning of every savory recipe that I cook. Literally, every time I make a soffritto I add Colatura. It adds depth to everything, just a spoonful or two. It has incredible flavor powers.
Do you have a current food obsession?
Making salty recipes without using actual salt. I am really into using other ingredients (which are salty but not salt itself) to reach the umami flavor I love. See above comment about colatura! Also, anchovies, cheese rind, and capers!
Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I have never been to Calabria, I really want to go to Tropea. I have read that the fish there is amazing. The Mediterranean is complex, the Mediterranean Sea has so many different personalities and microclimates. I am from Sardegna, but I am sure that Calabria will be a completely different experience. It is another kind of Mediterranean environment that I would love to see.
Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
Organizing the days orders from gustiamo.com. After all the orders are picked, packed, and shipped; there is something very satisfying about closing the day’s order folders.
What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
The concept of Italian food doesn’t even make sense! Italian food does not exist. But do you know what does exist? Salentino food, Friulano food, Romagnolo food, Logudorese food, Valdostano food!!