Sunday was another glorious day in New Orleans for the middle of January, so we headed out for lunch at Francolini’s Italian Deli NOLA.
Francolini’s Italian Deli is a hidden gem on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans
Francolini’s Italian Deli NOLA
To highlight the owner’s New Jersey roots a 1938 arrest photo of NJ bred “Old Blue Eyes” himself hangs on the wall at Francolini’s.
Francolini’s has been on my radar for months. It is the brain child of New Jersey transplant Tara Francolini and her business partner Chef Cesar Nunez. They started their business as a pop-up at the Rabbit’s Foot, where people could pick up sandwiches. There they created so much buzz that they forged ahead with their restaurant development.
A bit of bathroom humor at Francolini’s. So true! Check out the one below.
It was a rocky road, but they finally opened Francolini’s Italian Deli NOLA to a great deal of fanfare in mid July, 2023. It’s a sandwich shop with a twist. It’s in New Orleans, but there are no muffulettas ir po’ boys on the menu! The sandwiches, there are about 20 of them, are carefully designed creations of Tara Francolini’s upbringing in New Jersey. That’s where she learned the Italian deli traditions of the region.
This quote by Big Rich Horner is spot on. It really cracked me up!!!
Since Steve and I grew up in Philly, with summers at the Jersey Shore, we crave those tastes of home. So we were exciting to see how Francolini’s measured up.
The proteins
The various sandwiches are piled with prosciutto cotto, mortadella, salami, capicola, prosciutto di Parma, speck, hot and sweet soppressata, grilled chicken and rare roast beef. And that’s just the cold sandwiches. Francolini’s Italian Deli NOLA also offers hot sandwiches stacked with chicken cutlets, pork and beef meatballs, grilled and sweet or hot crumbled sausage. Even the vegetarian sandwiches make my mouth water.
The accoutrements
What really makes these culinary creations so delicious are the add-ins. That’s where you will find items like marinated artichokes, Calabrian chili vinaigrette, fennel salad, Italian salsa verde, sweet pickled garlic, olive tapenade and spicy broccoli rabe stems.
The bread
The counter and very efficient staff at Francolini’s Italian Deli NOLA
One of the things that makes Italian deli sandwiches in the Northeast so crave-able is the bread. If you are from that area, or have eaten there, you get what I mean. Everyone says “it’s the water”. I have even heard of restaurants importing gallons of water from New York, Philly or Jersey to make their bread and bagels in South Florida!
Knowing that, the team at Francolini’s developed their 7-inch sub roll recipe over many months until they finally got to a version that was Tara approved. Ayu Bakehouse bakes the rolls for them. But the focaccia is made in-house and is an option for the cold sandwiches, “We think it’s pretty awesome,” says Francolini. “It’s super pillowy and soft and creates a massive sandwich.”
Tara Francolini
Tara Francolini, Owner
Owner Tara Francolini grew up in New Jersey. Her big Italian family was known to serve prosciutto and lasagna for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. In high school she and college she worked at various restaurants. Upon graduating from college she move to Los Angeles. It only took her 6 months to realize that she detested working in an office. Tara began to realize that restaurants were actually pretty cool.
So she spent the next 5 years managing bars and restaurants in Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Massachusetts before choosing New Orleans as her permanent home. That’s when she decided it was time to open her own place because she got tired of having to fly to NYC to sate her craving for a cutlet sandwich.
She moved to The Big Easy in 2018 and it didn’t take long for her to become acute aware that, in a city with tons of great food options, there was a complete lack of her childhood favorites.
While working at Longway Tavern in NOLA, she met Chef Cesar Nunez and the seeds of an Italian deli were planted.
Chef Cesar Nunez
Cesar Nunez is not only a fantastic chef but, according to the website, is one of the nicest and calmest humans in the world. Cesar, a huge lover of both sandwiches and the Yankees, was immediately on board with the idea of opening the sandwich shop.
Common goal
Tara and Cesar’s goal is for Francolini’s Italian Deli NOLA to be a local neighborhood spot where unpretentious vibes are paired with high quality food. Simply put, they aim to make people happy!
Giving back
They’re also proud of their partnership with Glass Half Full NOLA for all glass recycling. In fact they encourage patrons to bring their glass to them for recycling as well! The goal is to create as little waste as possible. They are always trying to get creative with potential waste. When you get sandwich catering orders from Francolini’s you don’t get disposable plastic trays. Instead the platter that your sandwiches come on has been thrifted (many by Tara’s mom) in to give you reusable options. They encourage you to feel free to keep it, or you can bring it back to the shop for $1 off your next order.
Our sandwiches
The Italian
I knew before we even got to lunch that Steve was going to order The Italian. He opted for an unseeded sub roll that was jam packed with prosciutto cotto (cooked prosciutto), thinly sliced mortadella, hot capicola, Genoa salami, sharp provolone, pepperoncini, red onions, shredded lettuce, house vinaigrette and hot cherry peppers. I was lucky that Steve was willing to let me have a bite and it was A-MAZING.
The Smoltz
I had The Smoltz on a sesame seeded sub roll. Not sure how everything stayed inside the roll there was so much deliciousness layered in the roll. Besides the thinly sliced and very tender rare roast beef there was fontina cheese, shaved red onion, horseradish aioli, fresh dill, lettuce and a fabulous mustard vinaigrette.
I know that you are probably thinking that a 7-inch roll would make that big a sandwich. But I assure you that with all that’s between the bread it’s quite filling. So much so that neither Steve nor I could eat more than half of our sandwiches. No problem. We just enjoyed them the next day for lunch. And they were just as delicious!!!
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it was a gorgeous Sunday. So after lunch we headed to Jackson Square to stroll through and around the park.
