If you’re salty about the closing of Cure in Lawrenceville, chef Justin Severino is here to make amends.
He’s opening a pop-up retail location of Salty Pork Bits, the digital company selling his award-winning charcuterie. The 200-square-foot space at 2018 Smallman Street in the Strip District will be open Dec. 7-8, 14-15, 20-23 and 27-30.
When asked, Severino said there are no firm plans to open a permanent brick-and-mortar Salty Pork Bits, but he added that the Strip District site will operate for as long as its popular.
The spot will offer a selection of salumi favorites like the negroni salami, soppressata and genoa salami and a brand-new selection of patés, sausages, bacon and salumi board accoutrements.
Shoppers also can pick up frozen, uncooked sausages in a variety of flavors such as hot and sweet Italian, breakfast sausage, bangers, bratwurst, chorizo, morcilla and boudin noir. The shop will also carry ciciolle and bourbon maple-cured bacon, as well as two flavors of Salami cotto, an Italian summer sausage.
Mediterra Bakehouse is supplying the bread, along with a selection of pickles, jams and mustards to complete the perfect holiday charcuterie board. Diehard charcuterie fans can pick up Salty Pork Bits hats, shirts and totes, too.
Severino makes all of the products at Morcilla, the award-winning Spanish restaurant he co-owns with Hilary Prescott Severino. He recently partnered with Scott Smith at East End Brewing Company in Larimer to create The Larder of East End. There’s also a quick service cafe near North Park in the works.
The online incarnation of Salty Pork Bits just switched from three-month packages to a rolling monthly subscription model.
“I first began honing my charcuterie making skills while operating a small market stand in California,” says Severino, “so this is a real return-to-my-roots move. Salty Pork Bits is a national project, but Pittsburgh is our home, so it feels only right to offer something a little extra, a little more personal, for the folks who’ve been with us since the start of our journey.”
