Italians in America – Our Immigrant Stories: Meat cutting and hard work span so many generations, you might say they run in the blood

By Tanya Tecce

Giulio Esposito’s father Elia immigrated to America from Tortoreto, Abruzzo where he had a butcher shop.His mother Giannina Tarquinio was born in America in West Virginia; although she was on a visit to Italy when she met and fell in love with her future husband.

Once Giannina returned to the United States, the immigration process for Elia began and the couple had to wait six months for him to arrive. They settled in South Philadelphia, in an apartment at 10th and Carpenter streets, and had their only child, a son, Giulio.

Giulio and his son Jules Esposito at their store, Esposito’s Porchetta, South Philadelphia, 2015

Beginning in 1954, Elia worked for his cousins at the Esposito meats shop in Philadelphia’s famous Italian Market on Ninth Street.

While there, he saved up all of his money so that he could buy a house for his wife and his son in Havertown, Pa. They moved there when Giulio was about 10 years old.

While in grade school, Giulio was teased incessantly about his ethnic name, so in an effort to Americanize it a bit more, they changed the spelling. “I still know some of the guys that I punched out for teasing me about my name,” he says with a laugh. “They are friends now. But my mom had to go to the school every other week. That’s why I changed it to Julio. I’ve since had to actually change it back to Giulio. And that’s the way it should be.”

When he was old enough, his dad started to bring Giulio with him to work with the cousins on Ninth Street, where he learned to cut meat.

When the restaurant demand went through the roof, they developed a way to cut portion-controlled cutlets. “We served a lot of the busiest restaurants – the CR Club, and Palumbo’s. We had large orders nearly every night to provide for their parties.” Many people may not think of it but “slicing a 4-ounce veal cutlet takes precision. So we came up with a system to have them packaged and delivered. And the people loved it!

“Remember, back in the day you had to break down the entire calf, 160 pounds, swing it up on the hooks. It didn’t come in a box. It was done the old way, the way it was done in Italy, and it’s really hard work.

Elia Esposito working his craft, Philadelphia, 1975

“We’d do that in my cousin’s shop and we’d also make porchetta in our basement. Dad would have me stay and watch, even when I didn’t like it. At 14 years old, making roast pigs was the last thing I wanted to do,” Giulio laughs. “But I learned it, and as I grew and our business grew, I adjusted some of the things he did – for example, adding seasoning. I keep the generations-old recipes though.”

He continues, “We would do all kinds of parties, from small to as large as 300-plus, for all kinds of venues and churches, from our home. When there was more than one pig, I’d go with him and help him cut.

“And that is part of the story of how dad started making porchetta in this country for many Italian parties, and how it all started to take off.”

Giulio met his wife Patty, who was working at the luncheonette next door, 47 years ago. They have three children – Jules, Michael and Julianna; and seven grandchildren.

In 1982 Giulio’s dad Elia had a heart attack and passed away unexpectedly. Giulio does his best to pass on his father’s love, passion and discipline to his family.

Giulio and his son Jules, the next generation.

In 1984 when Giulio saw the bread bakery on his wife’s childhood street in South Philadelphia was for sale, he bought it. He fixed it up, replacing everything, even rebuilding the oven and getting a new burner because “it was meant to be,” he says.

Giulio and Patty’s son Jules now runs the store on 10th street. Jules has three children, the baby is Giulio’s namesake.

Amidst the work ethic and discipline, Giulio often reminds all seven of his grandchildren just how much Pop Pop loves them and to never, ever forget that.

Right now, the family is in the process of setting up a shop next door to serve quality sandwiches.

“My son Jules is my father reborn. He does the same things my father used to do without me teaching him! He figures it out himself; it’s like he already knew! He likes to cook. He makes homemade wine, he has his own wine cellar, he makes soppressata and homemade prosciutto. He loves tripe. He makes it fantastic, with a twist, delicious. My father came to mind immediately.”

“I am adamant about taking care of my family, and people. Treating them right, doing it properly, paying attention to details so that everybody is happy. It means everything. I want them to feel taken care of, to know that we paid attention to help them celebrate their life events. We give them the best product – cheese, peppers, the rolls are even sliced to make it a little easier. Everything is fresh and slaughtered the same week, that’s what makes it the good stuff. We’ve been doing this so long, we know exactly how to do it.

“We are still around because of that, and we will be around a long time.”

Amen.