Italian sandwich shop Mozza opening this summer on MLK in St. Pete

A new Italian paninoteca is getting ready to birth on MLK in Crescent Heights.

Mozza will debut this summer, offering artisan sandwiches, original-stretched mozzarella, wine, and imported Italian items in the broken-down Tiny Llamas Boutique home at 2319 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue North.

The thought that comes from local cheesemaker Michael Deininger, greater is named “Mozzarella Mike,” a St. Pete native who began internet internet hosting pop-americaand catering events closing April centered around his freshly made mozzarella.

Since launching, Mozzarella Mike has collaborated with a handful of local agencies at the side of 86 Wine Bar, Golden Isles Brewing, Stew’s Residence of Bagels, Cipolla Rossa Pizzeria, and Cellarmasters (RIP).

“We realized folk in fact related with what we were doing,” Deininger talked about in a dialog with St. Pete Rising. “The feedback on the sandwiches has been unimaginable for a whereas now, so we wished to amplify all that and prevent something special.”

Deininger describes Mozza as a frail Italian “paninoteca,” an Italian store that serves sandwiches, wine, and pantry objects.

“In Italy, that you simply have to maybe also stroll into these minute retail outlets and take a in fact easy sandwich with in fact lawful plot, maybe some olives or a bottle of wine,” Deininger defined. “We’re trying to embody more of that and much less of the deli vibes.”

At the guts of the new thought will probably be original mozzarella stretched on-space every day in minute batches.

“As soon as we battle thru a certain amount of sandwiches, we’ll stretch a brand new batch of cheese, so the mozzarella never hits refrigeration,” Deininger talked about. “It’s repeatedly dapper milky and dapper tasty.”

The 630-sq.-foot home will characteristic a minute eating room with bar seating along the front window, a handful of tables, and an birth air seating home in the future (pending city approval).

In preference to working like a frail deli counter, Deininger wants Mozza to in fact feel more like a arrangement folk hang out than merely take a sandwich and hunch away.

“I desire it to in fact feel approachable,” he talked about. “I desire folk to sit down down and in fact feel like they’re getting a curated trip.”

Mozza’s menu is mild being finalized, though Deininger says buddies can quiz a mixture of classic Italian-American sandwiches and creations centered around the shop’s original cheeses.

Past sandwiches, Mozza plans to present imported olive oils, olives, spreads, conservas, soft cheeses, and other Italian pantry objects sourced thru specialty provisioners.

Deininger talked about many of the plot are products now not incessantly found domestically, even amongst frail Italian markets.

“If folk haven’t been to Italy, I’m able to almost guarantee they’ve never had anything else like this earlier than,” he talked about.

The store also will probably be expected to characteristic a minute wine program, permitting buddies to pair sandwiches and cheeses with glasses of wine on-space.

When Mozza opens this summer, it’ll join a rising series of independently owned restaurants and bars on MLK, like 86 Wine Bar, The Violet Stone Pizzeria, Calida Kitchen & Wine, Pineapple Espresso, Blush Tea & Coffee, and Golden Isles Brewing.

“To all individuals who has supported Mozzarella Mike from the starting, thanks. Truly,” Deininger wrote on Instagram. “This has been a dream for us for a extremely very lengthy time, and it in spite of the entirety mild doesn’t in fact feel accurate.”

Create certain to explain Mozza on Instagram for updates on the indispensable opening announcement and the latest offerings.