Little Lorenzo’s is the culmination of owner Luigi’s lifelong dream to bring high-quality homestyle cooking to his community. Growing up in an Italian American family in Stewart Manor, he often helped his mother and Nonna with traditional cooking and baking. This culinary experience was only the beginning of his passion for food.
As local as it gets, Luigi attended both Stewart Manor Elementary School and Sewanhaka High School. During his high school and college years, he worked at Marina’s Italian Deli, where he learned new recipes, techniques and the fundamentals of the food service business. While at St. John’s University, Luigi studied abroad in Rome and loved visiting local markets and experimenting with foods to curate meals for his study abroad group. Summers spent visiting family in northern, central and southern Italy allowed him to experience the culture and cuisine of many different regions.
Years later, he and his wife bought the very same deli and renamed it Little Lorenzo’s, after their newly born son. The site is of special importance to Luigi – it is where, 15 years earlier, he discovered his love of cooking and grew to love the deli and catering business. To Luigi, food is so much more than simply sustenance. It is an homage to his roots, allowing him to bring Italian specialties with his own twist to the community he calls home. Food is a symbol of family and culture, of providing and sharing, emblematic of the love which he hopes to share with his customers through everything Little Lorenzo’s makes.
