Profile

Just a dash from Columbia University, Milano Market provides Ivy Leaguers and locals with superior, mostly Italian, specialty and prepared foods. They also run an outstanding deli operation. With 20-foot ceilings, the store is airy and well lit. Exposed bricks and Metro tiles line the walls and salmon-colored tiles cover the floors. There are well-stocked shelves of dried pastas and sauces, olives and olive oils, fancy chocolates, and massive wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Areas are dedicated to freshly roasted coffee, bakery items, and more than 100 cheeses from Italy, France, Spain and beyond. The deli, which takes up an entire wall, is filled to the gills with Italian salamis and hams, as well as heat-and-eat dishes like homey meatballs and crispy chicken cutlets. It’s the hefty sandwiches that are truly outstanding. Fragrant, fresh leg of lamb, roasted on premise, is thinly sliced and combined with pepper jack cheese, tomatoes, hot peppers and herb mayonnaise on a crusty 10-inch semolina roll. Soups likewise delight—the hearty white bean has chunks of roast pork, sausage slices, celery and carrots. — Michael Anstendig