You knew it as Pagano’s by Chef Anthony. Now you can call it Chef Anthony’s Italian Market. Since buying the place in July 2012, Anthony Stella has transformed the “little old Italian shop” in Chadds Ford’s Old Ridge Village to a thoroughly contemporary grocery and takeout. You won’t find the old folks buying salted cod for their holiday meals, but you will find lots of Stella’s home-cooked Italian favorites (including an eggplant Parmigiana to die for), as well as his homemade pastas, homemade biscotti, and hand-picked olives, olive oils, salts, noodles. “I have to taste it. I have to like it. I have to believe in it,” he says. Stella made a name for himself as owner and chef at L’Osteria in Wilmington, where his authentic Italian food kept a loyal following for 10 years. He sold it in 2005 to return to commercial property management, but knew he had to buy Pagano’s the minute he stepped inside. “It’s all about food,” Stella says. “It’s a burning desire we have.” (610-459-5900, paganosbychefanthony.com)
