{"recordId":"st_3ldc050al0vsmx2o","canonicalUrl":"https://sotwire.com/stories/gemelli-italian-deli-bagelry-opens-pollock-street-new-bern","jsonUrl":"https://sotwire.com/stories/gemelli-italian-deli-bagelry-opens-pollock-street-new-bern/record","slug":"gemelli-italian-deli-bagelry-opens-pollock-street-new-bern","headline":"Gemelli brings New Bern the Italian deli people kept asking for","dek":"Piero Passalacqua and bagel maker Giovanni Lentieri opened the deli and bagel shop in February 2025, in a former accounting office in the historic district. One of the twins it is named for runs it.","articleBody":"New Bern did not have a real Italian deli, and people kept telling Piero Passalacqua so.\n\nIn February 2025, Piero Passalacqua opened one with Giovanni Lentieri, who owns the Giovanni's Bagels shops. Gemelli Italian Deli & Bagelry sits in a former accounting office on Pollock Street in downtown New Bern. It pairs an Italian deli, with meats and cheeses sliced to order, pizza, pasta and stromboli, with a shop selling New York style bagels made daily.\n\n“New Bern didn’t have a real Italian deli, and people would ask me online or mention it to us,” Piero Passalacqua told New Bern Magazine in May 2025. Piero Passalacqua's family runs La Casetta on Neuse Boulevard. The two partners met by chance, on a soccer field in Wilmington, the restaurant's website says.\n\nThe website says Piero Passalacqua took a hands-on role in the remodel, completing it alongside a team. The building sits in the city's historic district, and Piero Passalacqua worked with the New Bern Historical Society to keep its character.\n\nThen there is the name. Gemelli means \"twins\" in Italian, for Piero and Paula Passalacqua's twins, Matteo and Giuliana.\n\nMatteo Passalacqua moved full time from La Casetta to Gemelli as general manager when it opened, La Casetta's team page says. Gemelli's website now lists four co-owners: Piero Passalacqua, Matteo Passalacqua, Giovanni Lentieri and Giuseppe Amato.\n\nOne of the twins the deli is named for now runs it, and owns part of it.","category":"launch","categoryLabel":"Launches","location":"New Bern, NC","company":{"name":"Gemelli Italian Deli & Bagelry","domain":"gemellinewbern.com"},"sample":false,"sampleDisclaimer":null,"publishedAt":"2025-05-15T18:17:27.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T04:12:44.372Z","badge":"Desk reported","trust":{"level":"desk_reported","doctrine":"Sotwire verifies who at the company stood behind the submission. It does not independently certify every underlying company claim as true.","verifies":"which named Sotwire editor wrote this from the cited sources","doesNotCertify":"independent truth of every claim","badge":"Desk reported","verificationMethod":"Named Sotwire editor, from the cited sources. Not a company attestation, and not an independent fact-check of every sentence.","domainChecked":false},"attestation":{"attested":false},"confirmation":null,"facts":[{"label":"Address","value":"211 Pollock St., downtown New Bern, NC"},{"label":"Opened","value":"February 2025"},{"label":"Building's former use","value":"Office of the accounting firm Brinkley Elam & Knott, PA"},{"label":"Co-owners (per Gemelli's website)","value":"Piero Passalacqua, Matteo Passalacqua, Giovanni Lentieri and Giuseppe Amato"},{"label":"Ownership note","value":"New Bern Magazine's May 2025 profile listed Paul McDonald in place of Matteo Passalacqua; neither source dates the change"},{"label":"General manager","value":"Matteo Passalacqua"},{"label":"Sister restaurant","value":"La Casetta, Neuse Boulevard, New Bern"},{"label":"Hours (per website)","value":"Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m.; Fri–Sat 7:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m.; Sun 8 a.m.–2 p.m., breakfast only"},{"label":"Breakfast sandwiches","value":"Served until 10:45 a.m."},{"label":"Reservations","value":"Not taken; walk in or order ahead online for pickup"},{"label":"Large tables and catering","value":"Arranged by phone at 252-631-2030"},{"label":"Parking","value":"Street parking on Pollock Street, plus a paved driveway to a lot behind the building with room for 15 to 20 cars"}],"keyEvents":[{"date":"2025-02","label":"Gemelli Italian Deli & Bagelry opened on Pollock Street"},{"date":"2025-02","label":"Matteo Passalacqua moved full time from La Casetta to Gemelli as general manager"},{"date":"2025-05-15","label":"New Bern Magazine published its profile of Gemelli"}],"sources":[{"url":"https://www.newbernmagazine.com/gemelli-italian-deli-bagelry/","title":"Gemelli Italian Deli & Bagelry","publisher":"New Bern Magazine (Ann Marie Byrd)"},{"url":"https://gemellinewbern.com/our-story","title":"Our Story","publisher":"Gemelli Italian Deli & Bagelry"},{"url":"https://gemellinewbern.com/visit","title":"Visit","publisher":"Gemelli Italian Deli & Bagelry"},{"url":"https://www.lacasettanc.com/copy-of-about-us","title":"History of La Casetta","publisher":"La Casetta"},{"url":"https://www.lacasettanc.com/new-bern-2","title":"La Casetta New Bern team page","publisher":"La Casetta"}],"source":{"url":"https://www.newbernmagazine.com/gemelli-italian-deli-bagelry/","publisher":"Gemelli Italian Deli & Bagelry","publishedAt":"2025-05-15T15:09:27.000Z"},"cover":{"url":"https://sotwire.com/covers/gemelli-italian-deli-bagelry-opens-pollock-street-new-bern.webp","alt":"Gemelli brings New Bern the Italian deli people kept asking for","provenance":"unknown","provenanceLabel":"Unknown origin","credit":null},"images":[],"provenanceMethod":"EXIF, XMP, and filename heuristic. Not C2PA cryptographic proof, and not a judgment that the depicted event is true.","provenanceDisclaimer":"v1 labels are heuristic (EXIF, XMP, filename), not cryptographic C2PA proof. Treat them as disclosure of observed metadata, not a guarantee that the image is genuine or that the depicted event is true.","citation":"Sotwire Desk, Gemelli Italian Deli & Bagelry. \"Gemelli brings New Bern the Italian deli people kept asking for.\" Sotwire, May 15, 2025, https://sotwire.com/stories/gemelli-italian-deli-bagelry-opens-pollock-street-new-bern. Record ID: st_3ldc050al0vsmx2o. Desk reported.","sampleLabel":null,"correctionStatus":"No public corrections recorded","integrity":{"algorithm":"sha-256","hex":"328a5383810240af174ee73348b0c77a186ba67265a3baa7e1729fa0cfb9f426","contentDigest":"sha-256=:MopTg4ECQK8XTuczSLDHehhrpnJlo7qn4XKfoM+59CY=:","scope":"Canonical JSON record excluding the integrity object"}}