Maria and John Biagini never thought they would move away from Brooklyn—but if they did, there was one place they had in mind. “We always said to ourselves, ‘If we ever leave Brooklyn, we would love for Saratoga to be a place we call home,’” Maria says.
The couple, who took advantage of Maria’s summers off as a teacher to venture upstate, fell in love with Saratoga a little more each time they visited. “Saratoga is such a beautiful town,” Maria says, “and the people are so friendly.”
After 20 years (Maria) and 40 years (John) of summering in ‘Toga, and with Maria now retired, the Biaginis pulled the trigger about a year ago and moved up to the historic racing town. All was well, except for one small detail. “When we moved here, it was a huge difference from Brooklyn, and we expected that,” says Maria. “But when it came to finding food from downstate, it was impossible.”
For a while, the couple would take frequent trips downstate to stock up on the foods they were used to and couldn’t get in the Spa City. But then John’s wheels started turning. He’s worked in the food industry for decades (in retail stores, gourmet markets, pork stores, you name it), and began to wonder if there was a way that they could be the ones to bridge the gap between the food that they wanted and the food that was currently available in Saratoga.
“John always had it in the back of his mind,” Maria says of their vacations in Saratoga. “He would say, ‘You know, they don’t really have food up here like we do.’ And then he’d say, ‘Maybe one day.’ And I would say, ‘One day.’ And now, that day is here.”
Meet Old World Gourmet Market: a new shop owned by Maria and managed by John coming to the space previously occupied by Pier 1 on Route 50 near Wilton Mall. The Biaginis will utilize family recipes that have been passed down for generations to provide homemade offerings from a variety of cultures including Italian, Greek, Irish, Jewish, and Spanish (think: ravioli, pasta, bread, bagels, cheese, stromboli, garlic knots, gyros…The list goes on). They’ll also have full lines of produce, fish, dairy, and meat—including sausage made fresh every day, fresh hanging beef from downstate, poultry from Bell & Evans, and gabagool, plus frozen geese, quail, duck, and pheasant (“You can’t find those things up here,” says John).
Oh, and their latest addition—pizza. “We weren’t going to do pizza,” says John, who’s accustomed to NYC’s famous pies. “But then we tasted the pizza up here.” (To each his own—we’ve certainly had some pretty tasty pizza in town!)
Products that aren’t Old World Gourmet–branded will be imported or sourced from nearby farms, like fresh maple syrup and butter from Vermont, yogurt from France, and peppers from Costa Rica. Products that are, including dry goods like pasta and frozen foods, will be made on site in a commercial kitchen. The market’s hours will be 8:30am-6:30pm Monday through Saturday, and 9am-3pm on Sunday.
Since signing the lease on the 10,000-square-foot space, John and Maria have been working hard to spread the word about their 35-page-long catering menu; if you order by 11:30am, they guarantee delivery by 12:30pm. That’s another thing—Old World Gourmet will offer delivery, which will be handled completely in-house. “That way, if we mess up, we can’t blame anybody else,” says John. “We did it.”
As opening day of Old World Gourmet Market approaches (save the date for May 21!), the Biaginis say they’re excited to share their prized family recipes with the people of Saratoga. For them, Old World Gourmet Market isn’t just a business; it’s a way to bring a taste of home to their new community.