This Little Piggy...

Yesterday, my friends Judith and Jeff, of Aroma Cucina fame, joined me on an excursion to Queens. Specifically, we drove out to Elmhurst for lunch (more on that in another post), and then followed up our lunch with a drive to Ridgewood...not because we were still hungry, but because I was on a mission to check out a place I'd been hearing about for, well, let's say a long time...

Yes, the Ridgewood Pork Store, deep in the heart of Ridgewood, Queens...not that far from where I grew up, in Forest Hills. I love this part of Queens - there's something so Archie Bunker about it; 2 and 3-storey buildings, with retail at street level and apartments above. Of course, just to prove their point that they sell pork, they have lots of porkers in the window. Jeff and I particularly liked the "piggy-bank," though Jude thought we were acting like 5th graders. You be the judge...

Upon entering, we were warmly greeted, and almost immediately the samples started appearing. We tried shouting "uncle," to no avail. He was like the evil pork devil...

Oh, I did mention samples, right...

Now, J & J are no neophytes when it comes to pork. They spend more than 1/2 the year in a house they own in Montone, which is a little town in Umbria. They owned, opened, cooked in and managed a restaurant in Montone, which is entered via this gatehouse...

Umbria is, of course, pork-centric. But even these two were impressed by the offerings, which, to be fair, also included sausages of lamb, beef, head cheese and on and on. By the time we were done, we had sampled over a dozen styles of cured and smoked or cured and cooked meats. We walked out with a nice bagful of treats (hey, Significant Eater has to try 'em too) and vowed to return. Only next time, I'm going before lunch.

Ridgewood Pork Store
516 Seneca Avenue
Ridgewood, NY
(718) 381-0686