A Trip to Rossi & Sons Deli

Some photos (and stories) from Rossi & Sons Deli, a Poughkeepsie, NY institution and Italian-food-lover’s paradise.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving everyone! This past week has been an interesting one for me. My boyfriend Gabe and I were visiting his parents in Florida where I tested positive for Covid. By the time we got back for Thanksgiving, I was feeling better and testing negative, but just to be safe I didn’t want to cook food for a crowd of 22 people. So I don’t actually have a recipe to post this week. But that’s ok, because I have something equally special: some photographs of the Rossi & Son’s Deli in Poughkeepsie, NY, an Italian food-lover’s paradise. We visited Rossi & Sons a few weekends ago on a fun fall weekend upstate (see my thousand layer apple pie recipe for some photos of the weekend), and every single thing that comes out of this place’s kitchen looks so good that I couldn’t wait to share these photographs.

THE ROSSI FAMILY

Rossi & Son’s Deli has been a Poughkeepsie institution since 1979. After immigrating from Calabria and Parma, Italy, the Rossi family set out to bring authentic Italian cuisine to upstate New York. They started out in a small location in Poughkeepsie’s Little Italy where they cranked out chicken cutlets and Italian heroes. Eventually they became such a neighborhood institution that they expanded to a second, larger location. Their original shop, Rosticceria, still serves the neighborhood the incredible sandwiches they have come to expect, but their second location, Alimentari, is really where the magic happens, and where I had the honor of taking these photographs.

In 2003, the four Rossi brothers took over the business from their father. Fabio Rossi took over the kitchen, and his first goal was to begin making fresh focaccia for their sandwiches. When it became clear that the original Rosticceria location was too small for their new endeavors, the Rossis expanded to Alimentari. And now, not only does Alimentari bake fresh bread for every single sandwich, but they hand make each and every ingredient in all the dishes that leave their kitchen, from the sauces and spreads on their sandwiches to fresh pastas and sauces to Italian bakery favorites like limoncello cookies and pistachio cornetti. 

A SMOOTH OPERATION

Every single bite of food you’ll have at Rossi & Son’s might just be the most delicious thing you’ve ever put in your mouth. They actually catered my dad and step-mom’s wedding back in 2016, and I can honestly say that it was probably the best food I’ve ever had at a wedding. And while opening an Italian deli might sound like a not-so-big undertaking, as soon as I stepped into the kitchen I realized how intricate an operation Rossi & Son’s is. The kitchen is huge, with dedicated areas for baking, prep work and catering and a huge bank of walk-in refrigerators and freezers that store every manner of produce, Italian meats and cheeses, and all those prepped condiments and sauces. 

Rossi & Son’s Deli truly is a magical place for any Italian food lover. But while I could talk all day about how great their food is, as they say “a picture is worth a thousand words,” so I’ll let some of my pictures do the talking for me. But I’ll end with one last thing: if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Poughkeepsie, NY, a stop into Rossi & Sons is an absolute must.