Update, November 6: Napoli Salumeria is now planning to open on Tuesday, November 10. The market will be take-out only with seating not initially being offered.

Original:

Starting next week, diners only need to visit Arlington to get a taste of the Italian coast.

Antonio Ferraro, whose Napoli Pasta Bar in Columbia Heights was named a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in 2018, is opening a new market concept in Arlington’s Pentagon Row.

Napoli Salumeria is specializing in grab-and-go-style meals, including Neapolitan street food (fried mozzarella and focaccia), homemade pastas, and sauces. Expect classic sandwiches, including cheesesteaks, Italian subs, and sausage and peppers.

There will also be premade versions of Napoli Pasta Bar’s most popular entrees as well as gelato scoops and cakes from D.C.-based Dolci Gelati.

Italian meats, cheeses, and ceramics imported from the Amalfi Coast will also be available for purchase. Other market items like wine, beer, and homemade limoncello will be on sale too.

Ferraro tells DCist/WAMU the hope is to open the market late next week. The initial plan for his second location was for it to be a restaurant with a small market, but the pandemic and restrictions forced him to change course.

“In the beginning [the market] was just supposed to be a corner of the sit-down restaurant,” says Ferraro. “Now, it’s the opposite and going to focus on to-go and grocery.”

The sandwiches, homemade pastas, and sauces are the market’s stars, says Ferraro. “In Italy, the small village where I come from, the small neighborhood market is where people get their daily stuff. Sandwiches, bread, meat, pasta,” says Ferraro. “The idea was to something like that here.”

For those choosing to eat their fried mozzarella or Caprese sandwich there, about 40 seats will be available for both outdoor and indoor dining (in accordance with Virginia’s Phase 2).

Ferraro says that Italians eat at home a lot more than Americans, a trend that he thinks could be changing in this country due to the pandemic and one that he hopes his new market can take advantage of. “Instead of going out for dinner, you can have almost the same products at home,” says Ferraro.

Napoli Salumeria is just one of several new local market concepts, with the future so uncertain for many traditional sit-down, upscale establishments. In April, former Oyamel sous chef Christian Irabién opened Muchas Gracias in Chevy Chase, a Latin American eatery with delivery, grocery items, and a daily takeout menu. Founding Farmers now has a market and a grocery at five of their locations.

There’s also the recent trend of ghost kitchens, restaurants converted into a space with several different concepts that are only available for takeout and delivery, and the proliferation of pop ups.

Arlington’s Pentagon Row, a shopping center with a Harris Teeter, Great Clips, and a Smoothie King, has recently become a somewhat unexpected hot spot for pop ups and new concepts from popular D.C.-area restaurateurs. In August, the Asian barbecue pop up Wild Tiger BBQ opened inside of Bun’d Up at Pentagon Row, and last winter the gelato shop  Amore Congelato started scooping from their Pentagon Row brick-and-mortar location after gaining popularity at local farmers’ markets.

Ferraro’s first restaurant Napoli Pasta Bar has remained open during the pandemic, with takeout, outdoor, and now, limited indoor dining. In February, the restaurant brought in Maryland native Andy Clark, formerly of San Lorenzo, Red Hen, and All-Purpose, as their new head chef.

Still, like a lot of restaurateurs, Ferraro is concerned about what winter will bring in terms of business. They are preparing for their outdoor space for the cold months with heaters, canopies, and blankets, but the restaurant’s revenue is already down 30% to 40%, he says.

He believes the Arlington market could help recoup costs and cater to the growing need for grab-and-go while continuing to provide jobs to his employees.

Says Ferraro, “I’m also trying to find a way that I can still provide for my family in a safe environment.”

Napoli Salumeria is located at 1301 South Joyce St, Arlington.