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TRADITION IN ABOTTLE Tommaso Antonino Aiello poses beside his products and afamily photo . that operated asmall Italian restaurant , she says . Aiello ’ s sauce is just like theirs , she says , only Aiello ’ sisbetter .“ It definitely isthe best sauce that I ’ ve ever had ,” Ramírez says .
Aiello has met his most loyal customers , including Bennett and Ramírez , through aFacebook group . Hedescribes how it is hard for his products to get adequate exposure and that there have been complications in getting his sauce business , called Aiello Italian Specialties , off the ground .
Still , there have been some notable gains . InApril , Aiello ’ s original sauce won an award from the San Franciscobased Good Food Foundation as part of its 13th annual blind tasting . There were nearly 2,000 products entered in 18 categories .“ I ’ m carrying on gradually ,” he says .“ Ihope toexpand the business into something big someday .”
As Aiello looks toward his future , he says he cannot help but think about the past . Itiseasy for him to remember being aboy , hesays , when under the protective eye of his grandmother , he would be called on to stir the sauce . And it is fun to imagine the precise moment in time when someone inthe village of Serrata came up with the magic formula . “ What ’ sspecial about ours is that it always held on ,” hesays . “ It was always being made .” ■
Aiello ’ s sauce is sold at A & A Fine Foods at 191 Main Street in Lincoln Park ; A & C Pork Store at 446 Chamberlain Ave . in Paterson ; Whole Foods Market at 500 Chestnut Ridge Road in Woodcliff Lake ; and Whole Foods Market at 560 Valley Road in Wayne . Aiello also sells jars of his sauce , individually or by the case , through his company ’ s website , aielloitalian specialties . com .
@ waynemagazine WAYNE MAGAZINE MAY 2023
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