Rare Delights

A. Tell the bambino to chill while you drive mama to Paesano's Italian Market in Cape Coral. She will be calling you cara mia in no time flat. Actually, you'll both love this expansive and imaginatively decorated food emporium, which features an outstanding butcher counter (meat, no fish), wine section, cooking equipment and foods from so many parts of the Mediterranean that you'll want to browse for a long time before filling your basket. The three-quart tins of extra-virgin olive oil from the Filippo and Colavita companies are so beautifully decorated that you may decide to save the empty containers for kitchen décor. But that won't impress Mama. She wants fresh veal, squid, rapini and pastas such as Ferrara, DeCecca and Anna. She's looking for fat anchovies packed in olive oil, six-pound cans of plum tomatoes, locatelli, cacio or scamorza cheeses and chocolate from Perugia. And when the cook needs a day off, you can take home a pizza or ready-to-go meal from the cold case. Paesano's, 862 Lafayette St., Cape Coral. 549-7799. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.