The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/27737
Scene the O-Town Vol. 1, No. 25 www.otownscene.com 102 Chestnut St., P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820 (607) 432-1000, ext. 255, editor@otownscene.com EDITOR Cassandra Miller ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR OF THE DAILY STAR Adrienne Wise PUBLISHER Armand Nardi EDITOR OF THE DAILY STAR Sam Pollak CONTRIBUTORS Kyle Beckley, Billy Brennan, Tammy Doyle, Peter Eklund, Brian Haak, Terry Ludwig, Jim Koury, Karen Miritello, Benjamin Patton, Emily Popek, Lisa Ryther, James Derek Sapi- enza, Sam Spokony, Jennifer Tighe, Danielle Tonner and Jeremy Wisnewski. CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Fred Schmidt ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sean Lewis The O-Town Scene is published Thursdays by The Daily Star Inc. Free copies are distributed throughout Oneonta, as well as parts of Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie counties. Member of The Associated Press and CNHI News Service Editor’s Note After college, I lived in places where going to supermarkets for groceries was inconvenient _ I didn’t have a car and none were near my apartment. Instead, I would shop at local grocers. In Italy, the single room alimentari next door had everything I really needed _ pasta, vegetables, wine, Nu- tella. It was run by Pakistanis who would sometimes throw in a free zucchini or tomato. Free stuff was one of the perks of shopping at small shops in Italy. There was another near the school where I worked that was owned by a boisterous man from Napoli who loved giving away meatballs. His shop unfortunately closed after a few months. (It seems he was able to give away food be- cause he was making money 2 O-Town Scene March 24, 2011 dealing drugs.) When I lived in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, the corner bodegas were my go-to suppliers of basics like cereal and toilet paper. One apartment I lived in was in a neighborhood some called East Williamsburg, some called Bushwick, and I called little Mexico. I loved the older Mexican lady who worked at the market near my apartment. We would speak in Spanish _ or rather she would speak in Spanish and I would speak in Italian with a few “quesos” and “holas” thrown in, but it worked. It was that human connection that made me feel like I was a part of a community, even in a foreign country or ethnic neighborhood. In Oneonta, there are several neighborhood grocers offering the human connection that makes buying necessities a pleasant experience instead of a chore. We profile four of them, each with its own signature items, characters and charm. The restaurant feature this week is Yellow Deli, which is actually a cafe. The workers, all members of the spiritual community the Twelve Tribes, try to make patrons feel com- fortable with their friendliness and openness. The great thing about small businesses is that it doesn’t matter the ethnicity, beliefs or illicit activities of those who op- erate them, but how satisfying it is to be able to connect with such diverse people on a level that underlines our human- ity. And really, if I can get a nice slab of meat or delicious veggie burger from someone who knows my name and is warm and friendly, it makes my day a little better. Cassandra Miller