Lunch crowd welcomes Bertolo's

BY WENDY BIRD

It's been a busy last few weeks for Natalie McAloney, owner of Bertolo's Homemade Foods on Durham St. The takeout café is one of downtown Sudbury's latest additions to its culinary landscape.

"I saw this place for rent in the summer and I fell in love with the building," said McAloney, who has run a catering business from her home up until last year. The building, which houses graphic design firm 50 Carleton & Associates, has a unique "flat iron" shape. There are only 42 similar buildings scattered throughout the world, McAloney notes.

Her café is nestled near the tip of the "iron," a place where customers can dash in for a bowl of steaming homemade soup, or a cup of coffee and a Nutella pastry. This is just a sample of from the list of nourishing nibbles that McAloney makes to sell at the eatery that, so far, has thrived with word-of-mouth advertising.

Popular items include a cheesy meatball sub (made using her father's homemade meatball recipe from his days as proprietor of Peachy's Pizza on Lasalle Blvd.). The sub is billed as "Sudbury's finest." But people also come in for the chicken salad that is sandwiched between a croissant with tarragon mayonnaise, as well as the goat cheese, beet and pecan salad.

For those looking for an authentic Italian treat, McAloney offers a generous porketta sandwich, layered with provolone cheese, mustard and, if you like them, hot peppers.

The 38-year-old cooking dynamo is completely at ease in her sunny new digs (a couple of walls are painted sunflower yellow), a place that has attracted a lot of walk-in traffic, especially hungry patrons who have completed a workout at the YMCA located across the street.

McAloney works seven days per week, along with her sister Anna, who works part-time at the café. Her husband and daughter also help out preparing food and making up labels.

In addition to offering up a variety of soups, salads and sandwiches, Bertolo's Homemade Foods also has a wide selection of take-home items, such as pesto, meat sauce, pasta and meatballs.

"I love to entertain, so I've always made lots of dips and spreads," she said.

As a result of this passion, and anticipating the busy holiday party season ahead, McAloney has filled the store's cooler with freshly made hummus, olive tapenade, asiago and artichoke dip, spinach and artichoke dip, as well as other party fare.

McAloney also whips up a wide variety of all-natural preserves, such as a rich fig jam seasoned with balsamic vinegar and black pepper, chunky salsa, jewel-like raspberry jam, sweet strawberry jam and a fig and caramelized onion spread.

And if that weren't enough, she also takes orders for lasagne, assembled with sheets of pasta she's made herself.
People who come in to sample her cooking are also tempted by a rotating selection of scrumptious desserts, such as malted milk cookies, rum-raisin rice pudding, brownies and other confections.

"I'm just now getting into a routine," said McAloney. She opened her business the first week of September and has been grateful for the "soft start" as the holiday shopping frenzy begins to heat up.

During the festive season she will be offering ready-made platters of artfully-arranged homemade cookies, cheese-cracker-jelly combinations, as well as homemade cheese balls.

"I love to cook and this has been a wonderful way for me to follow my passion," she said with a smile. "I love to feed people too. My family has always told me that I make too much food."