Walk into Liuzzi Gourmet Food Market on State Street and look up. Under a red neon sign that reads “Latticini Freschi,” Italian for fresh dairy, rows of cheeses hang from hooks along a white tile wall. Below them, the cases hold fresh mozzarella, burrata, ricotta and more than 200 kinds of cheese.
Plenty of North Haven families have been shopping here for decades. What fewer people know is that the whole business started with a cheesemaker who arrived in New York with $50 in his pocket, and with curd stretched by hand in a garage on Quinnipiac Avenue.
Here is the story of the Liuzzi family, the people behind the counter, and what to bring home.
From Noci to a garage on Quinnipiac Avenue
The Liuzzi family’s cheesemaking goes back to Noci, a small town in Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot. Dom Liuzzi told the food site CTbites in 2016 that his great-great-grandfather, Pasquale Liuzzi, a dairy farmer, learned to make cheese there as a boy in the 19th century.
His father, also named Pasquale but known as Lino, came to America in 1962. The New Haven Independent reported in 2024 that he landed in New York City with $50, a few words of English and no connections, and his first job was pouring concrete for sidewalks in the Bronx. A few weeks later he saw an ad in an Italian newspaper: a cheese factory in East Haven needed a cheesemaker. He took the train to New Haven and stayed at that factory for about 20 years.
He also met Vincenza DePascale at an English class at the Conte School in Wooster Square, according to the Independent. They married in 1967.
Before there was a store, there was the garage. Lino’s son Ralph told the Independent he remembers cutting curd into small pieces with his brother Domenico in the garage of the family’s Quinnipiac Avenue home, while their father and uncle stretched it into mozzarella. Their mother, a seamstress in New Haven, took orders from the Italian ladies. “No one was making fresh mozzarella at that time,” Ralph said.
A storefront on State Street, 1981
In September 1981, Lino and his brother Nicola, known as Nick, opened their shop at 322 State St. They named it Caseificio Moderno Liuzzi Cheese, the Independent reported, to carry on a family tradition that started in 1826.
“The intent was to have a storefront for the cheese and then do some retail, but that’s not what it turned into,” Domenico told the Independent. During the holidays, he said, his father and uncle “worked like bulls,” starting at 2 in the morning and getting home at 11 at night.
The cheesemaking eventually outgrew State Street. In 2006 the family expanded production to Hamden, where Liuzzi Cheese now runs out of 86 Rossotto Drive. The Independent reported in 2024 that Liuzzi cheese is sold in 38 states and has won awards from the American Cheese Society. Lino Liuzzi died in July 2024 at 87.
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Who is behind the counter
The market is still a family business. Domenico “Dom” Liuzzi runs the flagship store in North Haven. His brother Ralph oversees cheesemaking in Hamden, their sister Roseann Liuzzi Guidone, who started in the office at 12, is chief financial officer, and the grandchildren have worked as office assistants, stock clerks and marketing staff, according to the Independent. A cousin, Claudia DePascale-Muro, has kept the market’s books since 1991.
“It was always about family and quality and service,” Ralph said in 2024. “He taught us that you can make a good product, but without that personal touch, the product doesn’t mean anything.”
Dom has never been shy about what sets the store apart. “Quality is what sets us apart from Stop and Shop,” he told CTbites. “We have everything here that you need to cook Italian. If we don’t have it, I’ll do my best to get it for you.” The store imports its own olive oil from growers in Puglia. “We’ve broken bread with them,” he said. “We’ve visited the farm and we know what we’re getting.”
CTbites also introduced readers to cheese expert Louis Lenti, who had been with Liuzzi’s almost from the start. “This place is more than a store,” he said. “It’s a cultural bridge.”
What locals say
Customers who have left reviews on the market’s website talk about the people as much as the food. “One of my favorite places,” one wrote. “Dom and his wife (love them) have an awesome team. Vincenzo is the best, absolutely great guy.”
Lynn wrote that her father, who is from Sicily, surprised her with salami and mortadella from the market. “I was immediately brought back to my childhood, since I have grown up with my Sicilian grandparents. Their food is simply delicious!”
Dmitri called it the place to go for “amazing cheese, hard-to-find Italian imported food and products,” and pointed pizza makers to the buffalo milk mozzarella and tipo 00 flour. Hannah wrote that she goes “primarily” for deli sandwiches at lunch and prepared meals for dinner. “Very tasty.”
When Lino Liuzzi died, a reader named Heather wrote under the Independent’s story that “Liuzzi’s is one of my favorite places to shop when I want a special treat.”
What to order
Fresh mozzarella or burrata. Start with what made the family’s name. Liuzzi Cheese says its fresh mozzarella is pulled and stretched by hand, and CTbites noted that the house burrata was a favorite of Mario Batali. One review posted on the market’s website simply calls the fresh mozzarella “the best in the state.”
Ricotta. Liuzzi makes its own, and CTbites counted two kinds, whipped and large-curd. At Easter, that ricotta goes into the store’s ricotta pies.
A sandwich from the deli. The sandwich menu runs from a Parma prosciutto sub ($15.50) to hot capicola and soppressata ($11) and a fresh mozzarella sub ($8.50), with hot meatball, eggplant parm, sausage and peppers and chicken cutlet subs at $12, according to the store’s website. Adding fresh mozzarella is $1.50.
Porchetta and prepared foods. Dom told CTbites in 2016 that his own favorite is the old-fashioned porchetta, braised pork shoulder, which had been on the menu for 30 years then. The grab-and-go case also has stuffed potatoes, salads and dinners to take home.
Something from the butcher. The meat counter has a full-time butcher on staff, according to the store, and sells certified Black Angus beef, house-made sausage, marinated meats and, in season, stuffed chicken and pork chops.
Pantry staples. Pick up imported tomatoes, dried pasta, aged balsamic, truffle oils and the store’s own olive oil while you are there. If you need something that is not on the shelf, ask.
If you go
Liuzzi Gourmet Food Market is at 322 State St. in North Haven; the phone number is 203-248-4356. The store also takes catering orders for antipasto and cold cut platters, party subs, trays and stuffed breads, and it asks for 24 to 48 hours’ notice on platters and two days on party subs. Menus are at liuzzimarket.com.
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