Da Toscano Porchetta Shop
By Isa Miraldi, CharlotteBergerPR Account Coordinator
The Tastemakers crew was in desperate need of a vacation. Lucky for us, as soon as we stepped through the doors of da Toscano Porchetta Shop, the mouthwatering smell of slow-cooked pork and prime rib transported us straight to Italy. As the name implies, da Toscano (“from Tuscany”) Porchetta Shop celebrates the sandwich stalls found on the streets of Tuscany, and the vibe of the shop absolutely captured this essence.
Porchetta Shop’s relaxed and friendly atmosphere made our crew immediately feel like family as we began sipping our spritzes. Favorites were the Classic Venetian Spritz featuring the herbaceous Italian Contratto Bitter, prosecco and club soda, and the President Street Spritz featuring Cocchi Americano, Lambrusco rosato, grapefruit juice and club soda. We were excited to find out Porchetta Shop offers a happy hour on these cocktails and more every day (including weekends!) from 4-6 p.m.
The staff brought out their best-selling sandwiches served family-style, including the Porchetta #1 with crackling, provolone dolce and salsa verde, the Porchetta #2 with crackling, broccoli rabe, provolone dolce and long peppers and the Mortadella with whipped ricotta, arugula, red onion and pickled cherry peppers. All were served on airy housemade focaccia, and the tender meats were perfectly balanced by the brightness and textures of the complementing ingredients.
Their lavoro fatto per passione (“labor of love”) is the namesake porchetta: pork belly rubbed with traditional Italian aromatics and slow-cooked for hours. We loved watching the rotisserie meats rotate on spits as the chefs sliced them to order.
Porchetta Shop’s labor of love is now going even further, with $1 from every Porchetta #1 sandwich sold from April 13 - May 13 going to our Q1 nonprofit partner Charleston Stage’s education and outreach programs.
109 President St., Charleston
