Josie & Tony’s in Norwalk Opens Arthur Avenue Inspired Deli Counter: No Membership Required

Joshua Mesnick is well aware that his restaurant, Josie & Tony’s Italian Deli & Supper Club, is polarizing.

He dared to be different and opened a fine dining membership-based restaurant in South Norwalk, catering to paid club members first, and the general public second. Scoff it you want, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in. It’s not impossible, and if it’s not for you, Mesnick will be the first to tell you, that that’s totally fine.

Slow cooked porchetta, broccoli rabe, mozzarella, and pickled spicy cherry peppers on Wave Hill focaccia. Go ahead and submerge that bad boy in the au jus.

“I’ve always done through this project what I’m passionate about,” he says. “Membership has been sold out. We have plenty of great regulars that aren’t members. There have been doubters all along and that’s OK!”

Supper club aside, let’s talk about that other part of the name…Italian Deli.

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Before you get to the red velvet curtain that separates Josie & Tony’s luxe dining room, there’s a refrigerated deli case, a handful of stools by the window, and a counter where you can order gourmet, Arthur Avenue inspired sandwiches from Wednesday through Sunday, from noon to 7 p.m.

And you DON’T have to be a member to grab a grinder (or whatever you call it) with two hands and take a huge bite, elbows on the counter at J&T’s or wherever else if you’re taking it to-go.

Already popular every night for dinner service is the chicken parm. It only makes sense that it’d be on the deli menu in sandwich form with a bright red sauce and a pungent pop of basil and garlic from the pesto spread.

You can grab some pantry items here, too, like honey, coffee, and fine extra virgin olive oils.

“It’s always been part of the concept and the name; it was always Josie & Tony’s Italian Deli & Supper Club,” Mesnick says. “First and foremost, I put a luxury concept in SoNo, and it’s doing great, but I also wanted something to be part of the neighborhood that was accessible. There isn’t a sandwich focused place over here. The neighborhood needs it. And there are concepts like this, like Roscioli, and places out in L.A. are starting to do a little bit of sandwich stuff on certain days.”

An extension of the luxury brand, it should come as no surprise that the sandwiches at Josie & Tony’s aren’t $5 Subway footlongs, and although you’ll pay about triple that or a touch more depending on the sandwich, it’s worth it for the quality and care they’re putting into each one.

Meatball parm, baby.

Caprese - prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes, prosciutto di parma, and fresh basil.

The mozzarella melted on every parm sandwich or the chilled hunk on the combo and the caprese, yeah, they’re making and stretching it in-house. Meatball parm? Of course those are homemade, too, and each ball is a blend of fresh ground meats, specifically, beef, pork, chicken, and prosciutto. The meatballs (and the house spiral sausage on the sausage & peppers) are both the same, or similar, from the space’s previous occupant, Pasta Nostra, except for one caveat. Mesnick took the raisins out as a meatball ingredient because “my grandfather (who the restaurant is in part named after) would have hated that.”

Even the giardiniera that’s on the bottom layer of their Italian combo is their own pickling and provides the sandwich with some tanginess and veggie crunch to go with a stack of Rovagnati cured meats—mortadella (minus the pistachios), hot soppressata, prosciutto cotto, and salami Napoli.

And what they aren’t making themselves, which is only the seeded semolina and the focaccia, is made for Josie & Tony’s by Wave Hills Breads.

In addition to sandwiches, Josie & Tony’s has their homemade mozzarella available to-go, Italian sodas, chips, cappuccino and espresso, and something you won’t be able to resist, their homemade Italian rainbow cookies. And if you did want a wine pour or something else to take the edge off while you wait for your order, they can make that happen.

Dare you to leave without grabbing a few of these homemade rainbow cookies. Heck, they even make the raspberry jam between the cakey layers.

Soon, and although the deli menu will stay tight, they’re adding a few salads and you’ll be able to get the restaurant’s handmade pasta and sauce kits for a DIY dinner.

Mesnick mentioned that he’s always wanted an opportunity to do sandwiches like this, but wanted to do it the right way.

“I would never be able to put the quality into it if it was just a sandwich shop, but doing it in the fine dining restaurant and using these products made it possible,” he says. “What it’s all about is, is the experience worth it? For some people, we’re their special occasion place. For others, we’re a twice a week spot. The word of mouth has been insane so far. We’re fine dining, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. There’s a playfulness to it all. It was important to get this (deli) open before summer when the streets are packed, for the aquarium crowd, and for the boaters. I just love a sandwich, a good sandwich.”

20 N Main Street, Norwalk
josieandtonys.com