To be more specific, it’s part of the festival’s Chef’s Auction. It’s an Italian feast with not one, not two but seven courses! And a good deal more ….

“Experience ‘La Dolce Vita’ this fall with hosts John and Gail Rocca as they welcome you to their luxurious Saint John Harbourfront penthouse. Urban Deli’s Italian by Night Chef Andrew Brewer and food artist Michelle Hooton will prepare a seven course Italian feast for six. An on-site wine representative (Churchill Dauphinee) will offer a wine pairing for each of the seven courses. Luxury transportation will also be provided by Saint John Executive Limousine Services.”

And that’s just one part of the Chef’s Auction. Plus, there is also a silent auction. It’s all part of supporting the Boys and Girls Club of Saint John. You can discover more by having a look at the Fundy Food Festival.

It is such a pleasure to serve our customers the Italian by Night Spring Menu. And with all the incredible feedback you have given us, it makes it all worth the work in our kitchen! It makes it rewarding and fun!

We look forward to sharing our summer menu in June as our seasonal food items change.

The Spring Menu items our customers are truly enjoying are…

• Insalata Primavera – New spinach, toasted pine nuts, crispy pancetta in a warm lemon vinaigrette
• Caprese Salad – My favourite and I begged our kitchen team to carry it over from our winter menu…and they did
• Bruschetta – The presentation and flavors on this board are by far some of the freshest and most flavorful foods you’ll taste!

Primi – the first course after the appetizer (we offer small and large portions)

• Penne con Sugo di Salsiccie – imported pasta with slow cooked pork, veal and house made sausage in our delicious sauce
• Linquine Con Cozze – wine steam mussels, tomato, chili, garlic and fresh basil

Secondi – the main course (typically meat & fish)

• Pollo alla Cacciatore – slow cooked chicken with white wine, plum tomatoes, pancetta, garlic and fresh rosemary and served with our house-made focaccia
• Zuppa di Pesce – jumbo shrimp, scallops, fish of the day and mussels in a spicy tomato broth served with warm crostini
• Lasagne al Forno – baked layers of house made pasta, sauce, besciamella Parmigiano and mozzarella – you’ll take some home!

And if you finish your dinner….PAVLOVA…this dessert is like eating light fluffy pillows with fresh fruit and mint – even when your full it’s refreshing!

Join us any Wednesday through Friday evenings for Urban Deli’s Italian by Night.

Don’t forget to visit us at the Fundy Food Festival May 5th…

I love Mozzarella di bufula for many reasons: it’s so darn good and it’s an essential part of Italian cuisine, to name just two. It has to be on our menu! But what is it?

It is Buffalo Mozzarella, meaning it uses milk from water buffaloes.

Although it is made in many countries around the world, using milk from their own herds of water buffaloes, some believe Italy and Bulgaria have the best dairy water buffaloes. Right now, we do know that the Italians are proven to be the masters of making Mozzarella di bufula!

Unlike the blocks of processed cheese we had when were kids, or the bags of shredded / grated Mozzarella which are readily available in our local grocery stores, ‘buffalo mozzarella’ is balls of white cheese that come in various sizes and, in our opinion, a superior mozzarella.

We’ve learned that the richness and quality of Buffalo milk yields much better than a cow’s milk.

With our menu, we’re taking the approach of bringing you the most authentic experiences we can. It starts by sourcing the best products we can find and serving them to you, including Mozzarella di bufula.

Some of you experienced it for the first time when you tasted our Italian by Night “Inverno” (winter) menu. It blended nicely with our Antipasti platter, and also had great reviews when we served it with a drizzle of our house-made pesto and foccacia bread.

With the arrival of spring and our seasonal menu, we’d like to share Mozzarella di bufula with you as Crostini Primavera (Spring). This is where we build on a crostini (grilled bread), by adding chopped seasoned tomato salad, Mozzarella di bufula and aged proscuitto di parma. It’s all finished off in the oven and served to you with amore!

There are many ways to get up close and personal with your Mozzarella di bufala; it’s not a taste that will bite you on your tongue. In all honesty, it has no distinct flavour on its own. It’s what you do with it that makes people ask, “Mmm … what cheese is this?”

You can get creative too! For example, try something as simple as a caprese salad with two types of tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil and cracked salt and pepper.

You can find out more about Mozzarella di bufula on Wikipedia. You can also have a look at the site Mozzarelladibufala.org, “Campana buffalo’s mozzarella cheese.”

“Don’t send flowers on my birthday, send cheese!”

And we’ve finalized our spring menu for Italian by Night. We’re open Wednesday through Friday evenings, now with our seasonal menu for this very welcome time of year. Michelle, Andrew and Liz have been very busy putting this together for you.

We’ve “pirated” these few photos from Michelle’s site, where you can see and read more. For the menu,  just skip over to our Italian menu page.

Holiday Hours

A quick note about our hours … For the Easter weekend, the Deli will be open Friday 11:00am to 3:00pm. We’ll open again for Italian by Night Friday evening, 5:30pm till 9:00pm (last reservation).

We will be closed both Sunday and Monday to give our staff a nice long weekend. We’re back at it on Tuesday though!

We hope to see you and hear your comments on our new spring menu!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Big thanks to Uptown Saint John and their Video Pick of the Week!

Pappardelle con Pollo
made in house hand cut wide pasta tossed in a creamy chicken, tomato and pancetta sauce
$ 20

Pappardelle con Sugo di Agnello
hand cut wide pasta with slow roasted lamb, rosemary, anchovies, chillies and tomato cream sauce
$ 20

Cannelloni con Pollo
house made pasta filled with roasted chicken in a cream sauce topped with parmigiano and mozzarella
$ 20

Cannelloni Frommagi
house made pasta stuffed with ricotta di bufala and parmigiano covered in marinara and mozzarella
$ 20

Coda di Manzo
fall off the bone beef slow braised in tomatoes, juniper berries, herbs and wine
$25

A sharing plate for two $ 14
includes all three cheese listed

Mozzarella di Bufala
rich creamy cheese from the Lazio region

Pecorino Toscano Stagionato
centuries-old table cheese from Tuscany with a D.O.C. (or name-controlled) status. This Pecorino is sturdy and nutty with a hint of salt on the palate served with toasted walnuts drizzled with honey

Reggiano Parmigiano
sharp, complex fruity/nutty cheese from Emilia-Romagna

Cioccolato Creme Brulee $ 8

Affogato $ 8
This classic Italian dessert combines frosty sweet ice cream with robust piping hot espresso & house made cantucci

buon appetito!

Cannelloni di Pollo e Ricotta al Forno
house made pasta stuffed with roasted chicken, mascarpone and parmesan in a creamy basil cream $20

Arancini con pomodoro
house made risotto cakes stuffed with mozzarella di bufala served over a tomato, basil and garlic sauce $20

Coda di Manzo
beef braised in tomatoes, juniper berries, herbs and wine $25

A sharing plate of …

Taleggio
semi-soft, washed-rind cheese from the Valtaleggio region in northern Italy, near Lombardy. It is characteristically aromatic yet mild in flavor and features tangy, meaty notes with a fruity finish

Mozzarella di Bufala
rich, creamy cheese from the Lazio region

Ricotta di Bufala
soft, white and delicately sweet cheese from Lazio served with shaved bittersweet chocolate

Pecorino Toscano Stagionato
centuries-old table cheese from Tuscany with a D.O.C. (or name-controlled) status. This Pecorino is sturdy and nutty with a hint of salt on the palate served with toasted walnuts drizzled with honey $17

Cioccolato Creme Brulee $ 8

Affogato $ 8
This classic Italian dessert combines frosty sweet ice cream with robust piping hot espresso & house made cantucci

buon appetito!

Gnocchi di Patate al Sugo di Agnello
potato gnocchi with a rich lamb cream sauce $ 20

Arancini con pomodoro
house made risotto cakes stuffed with mozzarella di bufala served in a pool of tomato, basil and garlic $ 20

Coda di Manzo con gnocchi
braised beef, tomatoes, juniper berries, herbs and white wine with warm braised fennel $ 30

A sharing plate for two $ 17

Taleggio
a semi-soft, washed-rind cheese from the Valtaleggio region in northern Italy, near Lombardy. It is characteristically aromatic yet mild in flavor and features tangy, meaty notes with a fruity finish.

Mozzarella di Bufala
a rich, creamy cheese from the Lazio region

Ricotta di Bufala
a soft, white and delicately sweet cheese from Lazio served with shaved bittersweet chocolate

Pecorino Toscano Stagionato
is a centuries-old table cheese from Tuscany with a D.O.C. (or name-controlled) status. This Pecorino is sturdy and nutty with a hint of salt on the palate served with toasted walnuts drizzled with honey

Cioccolato Creme Brulee $ 8

Affogato $ 8
This classic Italian dessert combines frosty sweet ice cream with robust piping hot espresso & house made cantucci

buon appetito!

She was celebrating her 101st birthday!

When they were finished their meal, our server Fran asked them why they had chosen Urban Deli and our Italian by Night. Marjorie’s answer was that she had come to Urban Deli last year and enjoyed it so much that when she and her family saw we had fine dining available at night, we were the obvious choice.

That made Fran’s night, and it made ours! It’s the kind of thing that makes all the work we’ve been putting into our evenings and the Deli worthwhile.

Thank you Marjorie for allowing us to share your special day and by making it a special day for us too. And happy birthday!

Marjorie Hughes celebrates her 101st birthday with family, Gary and his wife Kim.

• Cannelloni con Ricotta di Bufala al Forno
  house made pasta stuffed with ricotta di bufala and reggiano parmigiano in
  basil cream
• Fettuccine con Gamberi in Salsa di Crema di Pomodoro
  house-made fettuccine and jumbo shrimp tossed in a tomato basil cream
• Coda di Manzo
  braised beef, tomatoes, juniper berries, herbs, white wine and fennel seed

Buon appetito!