New addition to the hamlet
HILLTOWNS A long-standing Hilltown family business is gearing up for a new addition.
Jessica Tronco, who currently runs the P & L Deli in Westerlo with her brother, Peter, will soon be opening another store, in the Berne hamlet. She will operate the new deli, P & L Deli II, with her parents and her husband, Massimo, she said.
In December, the P & L Deli in Westerlo will celebrate its 18-year anniversary, Tronco said.
Her family moved to the Hilltowns 18 years ago from the Bronx; she and her brother both attended the Berne-Knox-Westerlo schools.
The new store is expected to hold its grand opening the beginning of May.
"I’m always up for a challenge," said Tronco, who said the Berne store was a "spur of the moment" idea after she discovered it was for sale.
The P & L Deli II will be located on the corner of Route 443 and Route 156, in the building that recently housed the Helderberg Country Café; before that it was the Berne Food Store.
"This is going to be a little bit different because we don’t have any tables in Westerlo," she said.
"We’re just doing minor renovations," she said.
The new deli will have many of the same items as the Westerlo store Italian meats and specialty items, "all kinds of hot foods," said Tronco, breads, chips, beer, and soda, and other groceries. P & L will also offer fried dinners and frozen dinners for carry-out.
The store, Tronco said, will open at 6 a.m. daily and close at 6 or 7 p.m., and serve breakfast and lunch. Sundays, the deli will offer a breakfast buffet. For breakfast, Tronco said, the store will offer sausage and bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches and fresh Italian canolis.
Each week, she said, fresh vegetables will be delivered to the store.
Troncos parents, who opened the P & L Deli in Westerlo, spend part of the year in Florida. They retired two years ago, Tronco said, and her brother took over the store.
The hardest part of moving to the new location in Berne, she said, is not working daily with her brother.
"I’ve been working with him for two years," she said. "We’re close."
