The Grapevine

How does one begin to describe a man who did such remarkable things? 

Angelo Caputo led a life of hard work, generosity, and faith. 

He was the picture of strength. He came to America as a teenager with nothing, but the desire to make something of himself and create a good life for himself and his future family. The true pioneer in the grocery industry, he founded Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Markets in 1958. 

His life goal was to serve others. He loved to make connections with people and make sure they were happy— especially by feeding them. With the creation of Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Markets, he was able to serve a large crowd. His work, paired with his wife’s ability to create a feast in a flash, meant that anyone who crossed their path was never hungry… in any way. 

He was a true legend. He created opportunities for so many and was highly regarded as an inspiration and a teacher.

When my mom was designing our Caputo’s uniforms, she very intentionally put the Caputo’s logo on the left chest and the La Bella Romana logo on the right arm. It is with great pride that we wear his name on our uniforms over our hearts. He is the heart and soul of our family and our company, so it’s only fitting that his name is written over our hearts literally, while his memory and countless lessons remain written in our hearts forever. The name of his wife is worn on our right arm because Romana was his right hand and his strength and guiding force.

He was a very proud man, and he got the most pride from watching and being a part of the successes of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He wanted to be at every moment of our lives, big or small— every hockey game, dinner, birthday, milestone, trip to the park, or pick-up game in the backyard. He loved nothing more than sharing a meal or an espressino with his loved ones. No matter what the occasion, he wanted to be there supporting his family that he loved so much.

He would take every opportunity to teach us a lesson or tell us a story— teaching us how to eat a prickly pear, telling us to always make sure the bellies on the watermelon were face down, telling us stories from his childhood, or car rides full of singing and sharing memories… he was always there for us. 

He drew his strength from his family and they were his everything. He loved to be surrounded by them, especially when they were wearing their red Caputo’s shirts. 

His favorite song was “My Way” by Frank Sinatra and nothing is more fitting to him. The song goes “I’ve lived a life that’s full. I’ve traveled each and every highway. But more, much more than this, I did it my way” 

He lived a full, beautiful life and made an impression on so many. He never shied away from any challenge, but faced every obstacle head on with class and perseverance. He created something so special. 

He leaves us with an incredible legacy that our family will work endlessly to preserve in an effort to make him proud and give him the respect that he so greatly deserves.

We take solace in knowing that he is reunited with and at peace with his beautiful wife, the greatest love of his life. We know we will see him again one day and we will make sure his legacy on earth will continue forever. We know that Nonna welcomed him home with an incredible feast and they are dancing together again. 

Rest In Peace, Nonno. We love you. 

In an effort to continue his legacy and keep his spirit alive, we want to hear your memories. Please email us with any stories or memories you have of Angelo or Caputo’s. Send them to memories@caputomarkets.com

From Our Family To Yours

As we head into some of the warmest days of summer, your meal selections may reflect the hotter temperatures. You may be looking for something light and refreshing, but still full of flavor.

The Recipe Rack feature on our website has a variety of options that are great for every mood and craving. The great thing about the Recipe Rack? It’s your one stop shop! Find a recipe that looks good to you and you have the option to add all the ingredients to your cart and get them delivered right to your door or ready for curbside pickup! 

It’s a perfect meal planning solution for the busy days running between activities. 

Need some inspiration?

Caprese Salad

Simple and fresh! It’s cold, flavorful, and easy!

Recipe: https://shopcaputos.com/recipe-rack?dishId=09297e13-7c5a-4b68-945a-c41db91fe944

Bruschetta  Chicken

A wonderfully light, flavorful chicken dish that’s great for backyard cookouts. This dish is truly the ultimate go-to: easy but beautiful enough for company.

Recipe: https://shopcaputos.com/recipe-rack?dishId=ca241ab4-2125-4adf-9d61-997963c0e9a4

Mango Roasted Salmon

Simply flavorful! This festively colorful dinner will wow both family and guests. Even better, it delivers brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids, lean protein, and vitamin C-rich fresh salsa.

Recipe: https://shopcaputos.com/recipe-rack?dishId=03e83942-9c72-49f9-aeb6-86767a76a251

Blueberry Cobbler

With summer being the perfect time for berries, you can’t pass up a cobbler! Add some ice cream and you’re good to go!

Recipe: https://shopcaputos.com/recipe-rack?dishId=9c1c6458-b2e0-4e19-a072-da5ab6afd060

From Our Family To Yours

June 4th is National Cheese Day and there are so many ways to celebrate! We take pride in our large selection of cheese. Imported to domestic, fresh to aged, soft to hard… there are so many different options of cheese that make us excited to celebrate National Cheese Day! 

With a deli and cheese section full of different varieties to choose from, it can be intimidating to choose your favorite. The Caputo family narrowed down some of our favorites!

Parmigiano Reggiano 

Angelo’s Favorite- Our Founder

Imported from Italy, parmigiano is a hard Italian cheese. This cheese can only be made from cow’s milk who eats a certain percentage of foods. There are many producers of this cheese,  but all factories are regulated to ensure that any parmigiano reggiano cheese meets certain standards and grades. This cheese is great cut in cubes or even freshly grated on pasta!

Caciocavallo

Robertino’s Pick- Angelo’s son-in-law

Produced in Southern Italy, Caciocavallo is a stretched, curd cheese. It is soft with a salty and sharp flavor. The word cavallo translates to “horse” because it is said that cheese used to be transported by tying it in bags and hanging on ropes over a horse’s back. This cheese is not always available, so be sure to get it while you can!

Fontina 

Antonella’s Pick – Angelo’s Daughter

Fontina is a cheese made from cow milk with a semi soft to hard texture. It is incredibly creamy and nutty with a subtlety sharp flavor! Fontina is known to melt easily which makes it great for cooking or even using aas a fondue!

Cypress Hill Midnight Moon Goat Gouda

Giancarlo’s Pick- Angelo’s Grandson

This goat gouda is aged 6 or more months. It is nutty and buttery with hints of caramel. There is a bit of a sweet crunch to this soft cheese because as it continues to age, protein crystals are formed in the cheese. This unique cheese pairs great with sweet items like chocolate dipped caramels or salty items like seeded crackers! 

Pecorino Romano 

Daniela’s Pick- Angelo’s Granddaughter 

Pecorino Romano is a cheese native to Italy. It is made from sheep’s milk, in fact,in Italian, pecora actually means female sheep! Its profile is on the saltier side, not too strong, and crumbly in texture. It is a very versatile cheese that is great for grating or snacking! 

Homemade Ricotta 

Rosella’s Pick- Angelo’s Granddaughter

Our homemade ricotta is one of our top favorites! Available in our deli, Ricotta is made from re-cooking the milk whey leftover from the production of other cheese. The result is a soft, creamy, and delicious cheese! There is so much you can do with ricotta. Need some ideas? Check out our ricotta blog here!

We have so many options, check out this video to see a few

From Our Family To Yours

On June 20, 1991, we opened our second store ever in Addison, IL. We have moved and grown, but we have created many memories and are proud to have served the Addison community through these last 30 years. We want to celebrate this huge milestone and to do so, we are throwing a month-long party! 

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We will have tons of events throughout the month of June. Pig roasts, food truck events, car shows, in-store demos, live music, coupons, giveaways and more! 

On June 19th and 20th, Pit Master Jack will be in Addison with some great barbecue! On June 26th and 27th, we will have live music and a pig roast! Tons more events will be announced throughout the month, so make sure you are following us on social media and check our website for the updates! 

As a thank you to our customers, we are also doing 30 Days of Giveaways! Each day in the month of June, we will be giving away a prize. The winners will be randomly drawn daily. 

Want to enter? Here’s how:

Head to Caputo’s in Addison to do your grocery shopping, grab a bite to eat, or a drink. Each time you make a purchase at our store, you will be given a raffle ticket. Fill out the raffle ticket and drop it in the box by the exit. We will draw a winner every day and that person will win a special prize! See the calendar below for a full schedule of the prizes. 

We will have various ways to gain extra entries throughout the month. You can begin entering on May 26th and the last day to enter will be June 29th.

Follow us on social media and check our website for updates.

We look forward to continuing to serve the Addison community and surrounding neighbors!

From Our Family To Yours

Serving local communities has been a top goal of ours since we started in 1958. We have a passion to bring fresh food and meals to all of our communities.

With this goal in mind, we have been partnered with Northern Illinois Food Banks for many years. 

Northern Illinois Food Banks is a member of Feeding America and their goal is to provide food and nutritious resources to people who cannot get the food themselves and do so with dignity, equity, and convenience. 

We donate food items from every department– bakery, meat, deli, produce, etc. These items go to their distribution centers where they are packaged and distributed into local communities. This food will be sent to food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters,and other feeding programs

Another way we contribute is through donation bags with your help. The donation bags are located at the front of each store. The bags contain various types of foods, each bag has a list of the foods in there. You can pick a bag and bring it to the register to purchase it. The bag is then put in a special bin. This bin is collected from various shelters. Each store has different, local food pantries they partner with so we can help to feed our hungry neighbors!

We are so proud to announce that in 2020 we were able to provide 567,739 meals to our neighbors across Illinois! 

Thank you to all those who have helped us and we look forward for continuing to serve our neighbors!

From Our Family To Yours

May is Wisconsin American Cheese Month. If you love supporting local and you love cheese, it’s the perfect month for you! All month long we are teaming with local Wisconsin Dairy Farmers to promote local Midwest Cheeses. 

One of our Farms is Belgioioso– Headquartered in Green Bay, Wi. 

Belgioso has a wide variety of cheeses– soft, classic, artisan, you name it! This week we are showing off our Belgioioso Provolone hand cut right off of the torpedo. All Belgioioso Cheeses are all Natural, gluten free and crafted from rBST free milk. 

Another one of our Farms is Deer Creek located in Sheboygan, Wi. 

Deer Creek spends a lot of time making their specialty cheeses and choosing the highest quality vats to make their cheeses in. One of their most popular cheeses and one of our favorites is the Rattlesnake cheese. Rattlesnake is a nice medium cheddar infused with a premium gold tequila and Habanero peppers. The warmth and sweetness of the tequila open your palate to the smooth and mellow creaminess of the cheddar. Then an unforgettable burst of heat!

Another one of our Farms is the Sartori Company in Plymouth, Wi. Sartori is a family on their 4th generation Cheesemakers!

This month, we are highlighting Merlot vs Chardonnay, two cheeses soaked in a vat of Wine. Merlot Bellavitano picks up plum and berry notes, while Chardonnay Bellavitano picks up bright and buttery notes. Your preference between these two cheeses could reflect whether you prefer red wine or white wine. We would like to know your favorite!

You have the entire month of May to taste these two cheeses– get familiar and compare them! May 23rd-May 30th each store will have a Ballot Box located near the deli where you should cast your vote on which one you like better. On May 31st, we will pick 1 random winner from each store and that lucky customer will win a Gift bag from Sartori featuring an assortment of their cheeses. (1 vote per customer, employees not eligible. ) 1 winner per store ! Winners will be contacted the week of June 1st and announced on social media. 

These are just some of our favorites. We like to pair all of these with LOCAL Chicago Salumi’s, Sabitino’s Truffle crisps and Firehook Crackers!

Let us know your preference of Wisconsin cheeses and don’t forget to stop in the store May 23-May 30 to cast your vote for the chance to win a Sartori Gift Basket!

From Our Family To Yours

Salads get a rep for being boring and repetitive, but we disagree! Salads can be fun and nutritious! You can put a  variety of things in a salad to make it taste good and different! 

If you make your salad at home, there are plenty of ingredients you can throw in a salad. Some of our favorites that you may not think of are

• goldfish or a cheese cracker instead of croutons
• dried cranberries
• almond slices
• fruit like oranges, apples, or strawberries
• sunflower seeds
• corn
• rotisserie chicken

If you don’t feel like making your own, but want something different, We have a large selection of gourmet salads to choose from. Your classic garden salad to a fun chopped salad, there is a salad for everyone! 

Here are some of our favorite La Bella Romana salads!

Julienne Salad

 Julienne is a type of cut that means the food is sliced into thin strips and this is reflected in the ingredients of the salad! With different types of lettuce, ham, cheese turkey, and a few different vegetables, this is a great summer salad! 

Bacon Ranch Salad

 Our rotisserie chicken mixed with mozzarella, bacon, tomatoes, and croutons tossed in ranch dressing! 

Chopped Salad

A variety of diced ingredients for maximum flavor! This salad has eggs, turkey, ham, cheese, bacon, cucumber, onions, and tomatoes. There are so many veggies and proteins!

Greek Salad

Onions, peppers, cucumbers, feta, tomatoes, and olives… a Mediterranean dream! 

Mexican, southwest, tropical, caesar… there are so many more! 

May is National Salad Month and in honor of it, we are featuring a salad of the week. Every week throughout the month of may, we will be highlighting a few different salads in our ad and in store! Be sure you’re following us on social media to see what unique salad is being highlighted!

From Our Family To Yours

Do you love cheese? If you do, you have probably paid a visit to our deli and seen the large selection of imported and domestic cheeses, specialty cheeses, and, a personal favorite, homemade cheese! One cheese that we NEED to have in our fridge at all times? Homemade Ricotta!

Ricotta is made from re-cooking the milk whey leftover from the production of other cheese. The result is a soft, creamy, and delicious cheese! The taste is like no other. It’s fresh, creamy, and versatile– it can be a great compliment to any dish or main ingredient in another! You can change the flavor profile depending on what you pair it with and use it to elevate any dish or meal! 

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Here are some of our favorite things to do with ricotta!

Ricotta with honey and cinnamon

Mixing ricotta with honey and cinnamon makes a sweet and delicious topping! Try to put it on toast for yummy breakfast or even mix it with berries, peaches, or other fruit for a nice snack!

Ricotta & Avocado Toast

Italian avocado toast! Mix the ricotta with olive oil, salt, and pepper (also great with bread on its own), spread it on bread or even friselle, then put some avocado and everything bagel seasoning on top. You have a delicious and escalated avocado toast!

A Pizza Topping

Scoops of ricotta on a pizza is one of our favorite pizza toppings! We like to add some giardiniera and sausage too!

In a Sandwich

There is nothing like imported prosciutto and arugula on fresh bread with some creamy homemade ricotta. Add a little olive oil for flavor and even throw some giardiniera on it! 

With Lemon Olive Oil

If you’re looking for a light and refreshing bite, this is it! Mixing ricotta with a lemon olive oil or plain olive oil and a squeeze of a lemon is a wonderful treat! You can put it in a salad or even enjoy it with a piece of bread. It is fresh, light, and a great summer snack!

Use it in lasagna, in cookies, in a salad, in pancakes, with eggplant, in stuffed zucchini… the options are endless! Let us know what you use ricotta for and stop by our deli to try out our homemade ricotta… your life will not be the same!

From Our Family To Yours

Did you know we make our own tortillas?

In 2018, we remodeled our Addison store. Part of this remodel was bringing in a brand new tortilla machine from Mexico! This machine allows us to make our very own, homemade corn tortillas in-house every day. We then take it one step further and turn our tortillas into tortilla chips!

Like all of our other prepared foods, our tortillas are all natural and have no preservatives. We offer yellow or white corn tortillas that are made from scratch in this machine daily. The tortillas are made in our Addison location and then sent to each store from there. 

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Our tortillas are great for Taco Tuesday and once you have tortillas, our meat department is the next stop. We have a variety of pre-marinated taco and fajita meats and poultry ready to go. They are located behind the meat counter. All you have to do is cook and enjoy! 

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We also turn our homemade tortillas into tortilla chips! We cut the tortillas into triangles and throw them in our fryer. They are salted, cooled, and packaged in brown paper bags. 

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Our chips also pair wonderfully with items from different departments, especially our homemade guacamole and salsas. Made fresh daily, our guac and salsas are made using items right from our produce section! Guacamole, classic salsa, pineapple salsa, mango salsa, and more! You can also try our chips with our homemade chili! They are great for dipping in the chili on its own or making chili nachos!

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Check out this video on our tortillas here

From Our Family To Yours