This week I attended one of the best adult birthday parties I have ever been to. Where was the birthday party, you may ask? The party was at Philadelphia’s famous Di Bruno Bros. located in the Italian Market on Ninth and Christian.
 
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Di Bruno Bros., it is a gourmet grocery store in Philadelphia; but, if you ask me, it’s much, much more. With an incredibly knowledgeable staff, including a cheese monger (one of the most important professions out there, if you ask me) devoted completely to the various cheeses the shop carries, this delicious shop rises to the top.
 
On Wednesday, my friends and I headed over to the Italian Market and found the small Di Bruno Bros. storefront. Being that we live in Center City, most of us had never been to this location and were delightfully surprised at how small and quaint it was. There were various cured meats hanging from the ceiling, antipastos waiting for us in deep dishes, and glasses ready for our BYO wine to be poured.  

Two of the store’s employees, Rocco and Joe, were there to answer any questions we had as well as open up (pretty much) anything we wished to try that night. We started off with the antipasto bar, which included dozens of different olives, three different kinds of artichokes, sundried tomatoes, fire-roasted tomatoes and much more. After that, we moved on to fresh mozzarella, made by Di Bruno Bros., drizzled with fresh olive oil and sea salt. We then moved on to various cheeses complemented by mango and ginger chutney as well as a delicious bourbon maple syrup. From there, we tried various breads, cheeses and cured meats (such as the Jamon Iberico that runs $129.99/pound) and found ourselves completely stuffed by dessert time. For dessert, we enjoyed duck prosciutto, picante blue cheese, amarena cherries and cocoa pecans.

For $55 per person, 10 percent off the entire store at the end of the night and a cute Di Bruno Brothers tote bag, I would do this again in a heartbeat — in fact, we booked another night in May for our own birthday party!

— Lindsay Gruen, digital account executive