You’ll likely hear Italian when shopping at “Quincaillerie Dante.” The family-run store has been in Little Italy for over seven decades. Elena Faita-Vendittelli, the store co-owner, said her uncle started the shop. “We had presses for wines, everything for an Italian immigrant to have at that time,” Elena said. In 1981, Elena, along with younger brother Rudy, took over. They sell everything from imported cooking essentials to hunting rifles. ‘You go hunting, you cook it’ “There’s a tradition of hunting and sport shooting in European countries. One of my older brothers had the brilliant idea of starting to sell sporting firearms to hunt and to shoot. That’s where it started,” said Rudy Vendittelli. The selection of items in store is a rare find, and even the late Chef Anthony Bourdain took notice, said Elena. “He used to say, you go hunting, you cook it, you eat it. What’s better than that? He said it was the best store he’s ever been in,” she said. Rudy says that endorsement meant a lot to the family. “Consumers want the human touch. They want to be called by their first name. What we’re proud of is that we stay focused on what we do well,” said Rudy. They’ve done so well that Elena released a cookbook and began offering culinary workshops. “We used to give classes every night to 24 people,” she said. But recently Elena had to step back from teaching for health reasons. Family’s recipe for success “I can’t give classes like every night, like I used to now, because I get very tired,” she said. That passion for cooking was passed on to Elena’s son, Chef Stefano Faita, who also worked at the store for a time. Elena says she’s proud of him, and that he “stayed down to earth.” Staying grounded is part of this family’s recipe for success. “My brother and I wouldn’t think that we would get to 70, and we did with our effort. And it’s getting better and better all the time,” she said. Their devotion makes it difficult for the siblings to think about retirement, with Elena getting emotional at the thought. “It’s going to be very hard. Very hard. We are grateful; we have beautiful customers,” she said.
