Pictured: Panini, Imported goods share a table at Il Mercatino. Photo credit: Alex Alfaro .

The car wash next door does 900 cars a day. Some of those drivers discover Il Mercatino Italian Pantry, a boutique market and deli run by two Canadian couples, Joey and Melissa Cappello and Carlo and Mirella Parisi. Three months in, they already know regulars by name.

Both couples hail from Montreal's tight-knit Italian community, with roots in Sicily. Step inside and you’ll overhear lively conversations in English and Italian. The shelves are stocked with imported pasta (Pastificio G. Di Martino, Masseria Pugliese), canned tomatoes, biscotti, olive oils and vinegars.

The small grocery quickly acquired a deli counter with sliced meats, cheeses and sandwiches to order. “More and more people were asking,” Joey Cappello says. One of eight, the Mercatino presses mortadella, salami and capocollo with provolone, pesto and balsamic on Clemente Bakery bread, cut into two triangles. The Torino leans salty-sweet with maple ham, Swiss and peppers.

“This is what we grew up with,” Carlo Parisi says. “You go to someone’s house…nonna would bring out the prosciutto, the mortadella. Someone would open up bread and make a sandwich on the spot.”

At the espresso bar, Cappello pulls Passalacqua beans into a short shot, syrupy and bittersweet, gone in two sips. The cooler answers to the heat with aranciata and Sanbitter sodas. Grab some lasagna or fresh ravioli, too. In the freezer, find lemon and mango Italian ice alongside ice creams by Crystal Cream, another local connection that began when the owner stopped in.

“We don't want to just sell the product,” Parisi says. "We want people to feel at home.” That can mean lingering at the market's single table, dressed in a red-and-white checkered cloth, sipping a coffee nobody charged for.

Family and faith came south with them. As Cappello says, “To welcome people the same way we feel welcome.”

Il Mercatino Italian Pantry, Tues-Fri 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 8620 S Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, www.mercatinofl.com. Catering available.

Pictured: Panini, Imported goods share a table at Il Mercatino. Photo credit: Alex Alfaro .