A couple days ago we went to Shell Beach, just 15 minutes south of San Luis Obispo, this lovely area is popular for fishing and kayaking.
You can sit on a park bench and look out at the expansive ocean, explore the sandy beaches and coves or dine outdoors with a picnic basket or a take-out sandwich.
And speaking of take-out sandwiches, my husband and I shared a delicious large meatball sandwich and some antipasto from a deli there.
But my real reason for finding this deli goes back to my first trip to San Luis Obispo when we first began thinking seriously of moving here.
While exploring SLO’s charming downtown for the first time a couple of years ago we wandered into an olive oil shop. We sampled a selection of olive oils and ordered some to ship back home to Maryland.
While chatting with one of the salespersons there about how delicious fresh mozzarella cheese is drizzled with really good olive oil, he told us of an older, retired pediatrician who makes his own mozzarella cheese early every morning and sells it out of an Italian deli in Shell Beach.
I, of course, wanted to find it immediately, but we ran out of time since we were due back in LA, and were hoping to avoid traffic.
On subsequent visits to SLO we still hadn’t made it there.
Now that we are here, and staying in the hotel we have plenty of time to explore the area so lunch at Shell Beach was on today’s agenda.
We found the DePalo and Sons Deli where the famous fresh made mozzarella cheese is sold.
I brought it back to our hotel, picked up some other items on our way home at what will become “my Trader Joe’s,” and along with a couple of complementary drinks from our hotel’s daily happy hour, I set up a nice little happy hour of our own in our room. Actually, it was our dinner.
I was told the mozzarella should sit out for the first 24 hours and it is best to eat it the first day. But, it will last up to 5 days in the fridge. It really is so good!
The story of Dr. Louis M. Tedone who, at 90 years old, still handcrafts these balls of fresh mozzarella daily for the deli is even better… Here’s a glimpse of his work…