This all started yesterday. And it was almost like it was a rumor. Something was going on, but no one would say what and well now we know.
A special ed teacher at Conestoga, no less.
NEWS RELEASE: CONESTOGA HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER CHARGED FOR HAVING SEX WITH A MINOR STUDENT
The Chester County District Attorney’s Office and the Tredyffrin Township Police Department announce that charges have been filed against Michelle Mercogliano, 35, of Phoenixville, for having a sexual relationship with a student attending Conestoga High School where she was employed as a teacher. Mercogliano was charged with Institutional Sexual Assault, Corruption of Minors, Delivery of a Controlled Substance, and other related offenses. The Defendant has not yet been arrested but is cooperative and arranging an appropriate time to turn herself in via her attorney.
The criminal complaint (the Defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty) filed by the Tredyffrin Township Police Department indicates that, starting in February of 2025, the Defendant began to have a sexual relationship with the 16-year-old victim. The Defendant also provided the victim with marijuana. Police learned of the conduct earlier this week, quickly launched a thorough investigation, and immediately worked with the Tredyffrin Eastown School District to prevent the Defendant from having further contact with students.
Chester County District Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe stated, “Parents and students should be able to trust their teachers. The Defendant broke the law and destroyed that trust. It will not be tolerated.”
Tredyffrin Township Police Department Police Chief Michael Beaty stated, “The calculated actions by this Defendant are shocking and disturbing. We are here to support the victim and his family as we collectively work to rebuild the trust damaged by her criminal endeavors.”
The Tredyffrin Township Police Department is the lead investigating agency and has received assistance from the Chester County Detectives. This is an ongoing investigation. If you have any information, please contact the Tredyffrin Township Police Department at 610-644-3221. And as always, if you have concerns about the safety of a child, say something. Call 911 and call Childline at 1-800-932-0313.
I am so repulsed and at a loss for words. How does a teacher do this? how does a grown ass woman do this with a kid? And give this same access to her medical marijuana ? And why is she not in custody? 
April 30, 2025
Dear TESD Families and Community,
Today, Tredyffrin Township Police and the Chester County District Attorney informed the District that charges have been filed against a Conestoga High School teacher, Michelle Mercogliano, related to alleged unlawful conduct with a Conestoga High School student. Ms. Mercogliano was placed on leave yesterday immediately after the District was made aware of the investigation, and she no longer has access to District property. The District appreciates the work of the Tredyffrin Township Police Department and District Attorney and is cooperating with the investigation. Out of respect for student privacy and the integrity of the investigation, the District will not provide additional comment or details at this time.
Ms. Mercogliano began teaching at Conestoga this past fall. She was a teacher at Hillside Elementary School from 2019 to 2024 and a paraprofessional at Hillside Elementary and Valley Forge Elementary Schools from 2014 to 2018. We have no information at this time to indicate that the criminal investigation involves other students. However, if you have details you believe are relevant to this investigation, please contact Tredyffrin Township Police at 610-644-3221.
We are deeply troubled by these allegations. The District remains committed to providing a safe and supportive school environment for all students. We encourage you to contact your child’s Principal if any child needs support.
Sincerely, Dr. Richard Gusick Superintendent of Schools
Beth Lane is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Her mother and her six siblings survived together in Nazi Germany and immigrated together to the United States. Considering the times and what they were just trying to survive while in Germany, this is nothing sort of remarkable and kind of a miracle.
The documentary also gives a glimpse into a courageous and beautiful love story of her grandparents. Her mother was Jewish, her father was not as a child in the 60s. I remember those “mixed marriages” were still somewhat frowned upon and as a matter of fact, I distinctly remember people next-door to us in Society Hill. One spouse was Catholic, and one was Jewish and half of their families wouldn’t speak to them. I remember that distinctly as a kid because it struck me as so sad.
There is the sheer wonder of these kids (the Weber 7) surviving together as their own family unit and getting here to the US. A spoiler alert is they weren’t actually separated until they arrived in the US post -World War II, yet they all found their way back to one another, although so many years (decades) later.
The story of how they survived during World War II is something as you watch it. You feel your heart in your throat and even though it’s not your family, there were so many times during this that I could feel tears in my eyes. It was so remarkable that they survived and it was so amazing what people did to help them stay alive.
As I said to the filmmaker, Beth Lane, as we were corresponding, as a nation of immigrants, I think her documentary is also very timely for that reason alone.
This beautiful body of work reminds us of what it took for people to come here and how we have to show more grace for immigrants for lack of a better description (and I don’t necessarily like the over use of the word grace but it somehow seems applicable here.)
After all, would you or I be here if there wasn’t someone in our family tree who came here from someplace else?
These Weber children survived their mother being taken to Auschwitz where she was killed. Even before the mother was taken, the father had been taken to a camp and then released after a few months. and these kids survived through the kindness of strangers living in a hut in Port on a farm in Germany can you imagine doing that? Can you imagine being able to survive like that? I can’t, and they did.
On September 11, 2001, I stood next to the Empire State Building, watching smoke billow above the skyscrapers moments before the Twin Towers fell. Shock and fear gripped everyone around me as I moved swiftly to get as far away from 34th Street and 5th Avenue as possible. Bridges, tunnels, and trains on and off the island of Manhattan were closed indefinitely. I made a call to a friend back in my suburban neighborhood, asking her to retrieve my three children from elementary school. I gave her my sister’s phone number in Chicago, “just in case” — a call I will never forget.
As a child, I had been assured the Holocaust could never happen again. Yet, in that moment, it felt like history’s darkest echoes had returned — racism, hatred, and violence erupting in New York City.
My mother, Ginger, lived a life that mirrored Job’s trials. Born into poverty in Berlin, she watched the Gestapo shove her mother into a black car, never to return. She became one of the “Weber Siblings,” seven hidden children of the Holocaust who survived against all odds. After the war, they immigrated to America through the Jewish Children’s Bureau, only to be separated and placed in different foster homes. My mother was adopted, and social workers advised her new parents to sever ties with her biological family to help her “acclimate.”
She always told my siblings and me that we would never meet her biological brothers and sisters. But in 1986, 40 years after her emigration, that changed. Mom reunited with Alfons, Senta, Ruth, Gertrude, Renee, and Judith — siblings who had stayed connected and quietly tracked her whereabouts. I learned of the reunion after the fact, living in another state, and always wondered what that moment must have felt like.
Ten years later, the Weber siblings gathered again to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their emigration. They stood on my mother’s front lawn in front of a giant poster of the Statue of Liberty, posing for a photo as if they had never been apart.
At that 1996 reunion, our cousin Lynn compiled a massive scrapbook chronicling the family’s history, filled with photos and documents. Uncle Alfons wrote a 40-page account of his memories, helping us piece together their story. He even traveled back to Worin, Germany, where the siblings had been hidden for two years. He, Aunt Gertrude, and my mother worked tirelessly to gather the documents needed to honor Arthur and Paula Schmidt — the quiet heroes who risked their lives to hide the Weber children. They submitted an application to Yad Vashem to have the Schmidts named “Righteous Among the Nations.” Though Alfons was alive when the designation was approved, he passed away in 2016, just six months before the official ceremony in Jerusalem.
In 2017, after 72 years of refusing to return to Berlin, my mom decided to pick up Alfons’ mantle and travel back to Worin. My sister, father, and I accompanied her. That day changed my life, and I committed to making a major motion picture to ensure that the Schmidts — and all the silent heroes who chose courage over complicity — would never be forgotten.
UnBroken became my siren call to honor these incredible upstanders. I chose to focus on the goodness in people, to highlight bold acts of generosity, bravery, and kindness.
Over my seven-year journey to make this film, it became my response to the events shaping our world today. Hope will always triumph over evil — yesterday, today, and forevermore.
And in many ways, UnBroken was the gift I gave myself for missing that 1986 reunion — a way to finally step into the story and carry it forward.
Only three siblings survive according to Beth’s website. That would be her mother Ginger (or Bela), Judith, and Gertrude.
This is on Netflix and it is so worth watching. Seriously, it’s beautiful and it’s such a tribute to a family that survived literally the impossible during a time that was so ugly and we need that reminder today we need to be reminded that things like this happen if we aren’t good stewards of our world.
You know when you think of “men of God” you don’t think of them using cell phones. But apparently, they do. I was watching the funeral coverage of Pope Francis both today and yesterday and I kept catching Cardinals on their cell phones.
Now I understand taking a photo of his tomb in Santa Maria Maggiore. (Santa Maria Maggiore is quite beautiful, by the way.) I was there when I was a teenager. I still have photos somewhere. But cell phones during these Masses? Good gracious, they are as bad as teenagers.
I am not a big fan of Rome, and prefer other Italian cities like Florence and Sienna, but the majesty of Vatican City is truly remarkable and beautiful.
I watched the Vatican streaming of the funeral yesterday and the other mass today. I didn’t want the sports-like blow by blow narration. The music was lovely and amazing.
From today
The sea of Cardinals was truly fascinating to see, and I am sure the jockeying is well underway in advance of Conclave. Pundits call now an “unofficial Conclave” as the maneuvering for favor starts now. After all, there are few organizations that are as political as the Catholic Church. The actual Conclave will start between May 6 and May 11.
The Cardinals are in Rome/ Vatican for the duration. Right now they are at Santa Marta House in Vatican City. When Conclave begins, they move into the Sistine Chapel. They are locked within the Sistine Chapel until the new Pope is chosen, and there is a vow of secrecy. They will deliberate and vote, cut off from the outside world until a new Pope is chosen. We assume that their cell phones will be locked away somewhere, right? The black smoke that comes out of the Vatican chimney means they haven’t agreed on a successorPope, when the white smoke appears they have.
Until we hear “Habemus Papam!” we do not have a new Pope.
Here’s a great article from NPR on the process:
Who will be the next pope? Here’s how the conclave works
A truly good and great man who was also humble has been laid to rest. Now the world waits for who shall succeed him and what tone they will take. The Catholic Church in my opinion still has a lot of atoning to do for sexual abuse. I do not believe they will choose a Pope from the United States.
If you go searching on YouTube, you will undoubtedly be able to find some of the European and Vatican streaming of the funeral and the Mass today.
There is no way around how ugly this is. No way at all. Now, of course, those of us familiar with Lower Merion School District know that the Central Bucks Superintendent is Dr. Steven Yanni. Yanni was Superintendent in Lower Merion for a few months, never moved into the district and then was gone back to Bucks County (where he lived, so you know that was a heck of a commute to the Main Line every day.)
It was always my opinion that Yanni used getting the job in Lower Merion to get him back where he wanted to be, which was Buck County and of course now he’s on leave because of all of this so maybe that wasn’t the best decision?
Now, although not a fan of Yanni, I am less of a fan of the insanity that goes on in a lot of these Bucks County school districts, especially this one. Let us not forget things like Clarice Schillinger, founder of the Keeping Kids in School PAC, who recruited nearly 100 parents to run for school boards across Pennsylvania over masking/anti-vaxxing etc who also made national news as the Bucks County party mom who was accused of slugging a kid?
Bucks County is a total circus with their school districts, especially Central Bucks.
But what came out in this recent thing and this report that was filed that was so explosive to me demonstrates that there’s like this breakdown between school districts, the state including things like “Child Line”, and police departments.
It reminded me of something that happened in Chester County and that was the death of that poor girl, Malinda Hoagland. That made national news as well.
So these two cases this new one in Bucks County and this one from last year in Chester County, to me clearly illustrates that all these agencies that are supposed to be working together for the benefit of children are in fact not.
Let’s start with Child Line which has been a subject of scrutiny in the past. In 2023 there was a report put out about their registry by the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Temple Law School:
Now I think because of the problems experienced because of Child Line not l functioning properly, or perhaps functioning unfairly as these articles indicate, it also means that school districts are perhaps reluctant to go to the state and file with Child Line?
I know from what parents told me I guess it was a couple or a few years ago when there were issues at some local daycare places. Parents told me about their experiences calling Child Line among other things they basically felt like when they called in something they weren’t heard or taken seriously. Others have said to me it’s like calling any other thing in Harrisburg that’s supposed to help residents, it’s just a study in frustration.
Of course the greatest irony is because the federal government is monkey around so much with education and actually most probably wants to try to get rid of the Department of Education, these resources are needed more than ever.
I think there’s a lot of blame to go around. And then you look at the hierarchy and what not within each school district. Often teachers are afraid to step forward. They have to deal with their peers. They have to deal with their teachers union. They have to deal with the administration. It is my opinion that that’s why you didn’t see very much happen that should’ve happened with the whole scandal within the Great Valley School District of making hyper sexualized and horrible fake social media profiles of teachers within that district. That made the news and then it fizzled out and disappeared.
That issue shouldn’t have disappeared like that, but you know in order for law-enforcement to do anything teachers have to step forward and allow their names to be used, don’t they? The school district certainly didn’t want this blown up anymore in Great Valley. They wanted it to disappear.
And then there is the crap that all of the school districts have had to deal with since Covid. First there was masking an anti-vaxxing. Now it’s back to book banning. The latest was Radnor School District. And there we all saw a familiar face from the Great Valley School District book banning debacle that included litigation that cost the district and taxpayers quite a bit of coin, and the litigation went nowhere.
I’m pleased to report that Radnor school district is UN-banning the books it banned and I’ve posted the link to the meeting so you can hear how the parents, residents, and former attendees of various Radnor schools felt. You have to surf a little bit into the video, but it’s well worth listening to these people.
The school districts in Pennsylvania seem to deal with a continual circus. I think that’s fair to say. That makes it harder for them to do their jobs.
I also think that is fair to say I think there was an enormous breakdown in the Central Bucks School District, circling back to what I opened this post with, but they’re not the only district that suffers from these things. Now I think Superintendent Yanni will be the scapegoat here and the fall guy, especially because the Republicans in that area didn’t want him here in the first place, did they? But he’s not the only one that can take a lap or two for how that whole horrible scenario all happened at Jamison Elementary.
I have to be honest and say that I am not surprised that there are issues in any school district when it comes to special needs kids. There are the teachers and administrators and other personnel who really really care, and then there are the ones who don’t.
I have had many friends over the course of my life who have had kids with varying degrees of special needs in some very familiar school districts who ended up having to take their kids OUT of these public school districts, and in some cases, sue the district to get the kids into better programs elsewhere.
And then there are the parents who want school districts to deal with severe bullying issues, and things of that nature. And there’s a lot of double talk, but not a lot of action. And sometimes the bullying is not from the kids, it’s the adults, yes?
The circus of school districts needs to get back to the best interest of the child. Every time one of these horrible things happens school districts say they’re going to do better. Then the state will say it’s going to do better, and eventually it all goes back to the way it was doesn’t it? Actual change and reform need to happen.
And that includes a need for school districts to have effective mechanisms in place to deal with the parents that think that what they believe personally should be applied across the board to every parent with things like book banning. The dead baby poster toting book banning poster toting parents are taking up a lot of valuable time within our school districts. They seem to think that their rights matter more than everyone else’s. These circus routines distract from more important matters. You know things like child abuse. Or actual education.
And Harrisburg? Well, Harrisburg is its own cesspool, and this is a glaring example of what they need to actually do better as well.
And then all of these school districts and the state have to work better with law enforcement. it has to be a partnership for the betterment of the children, putting the egos and partisan politics aside.
OK, I’m getting off my soapbox now. But I just think there’s actual reform that needs to happen and it’s not just in one exceptionally problematic school district in Bucks County.
Now Pope John Paul II died before Easter when he passed away in 2005. I actually met him when I was a senior in high school in 1981 at a private Ash Wednesday service in the Vatican. Private meant 100 people. It was this small like church like reception room in one of the lower levels of the Vatican with an altar.
It was really cool and amazing experience and we got into it because my father’s classmate from Saint Joe’s Prep the late Cardinal John Foley was in Rome back then. He was the voice of midnight mass for years. So for years and years, if you ever turned on midnight mass from Rome on Christmas Eve, it was a Philadelphia guy narrating.
I wouldn’t necessarily say I was anything other than a disillusioned Catholic (versus a lapsed Catholic), although I admit since I came to Chester County, I have not joined to church because I have not found a church I really like. I have my faith, but I spent my formative years in a Jesuit parish, which is probably why I always found Pope Francis so appealing.
The Jesuit order was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions, with the approval of Pope Paul III. The Society of Jesus is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 countries. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. Missionary, educational, literary works are their ministry.
The church I was baptized in Old Saint Joseph’s on Willings Alley Philadelphia is a Jesuit Parish. my catechism before I made my first communion was done by aJesuit priest, Father Drain. I still remember his name.
I find the churches in Chester county somewhat impersonal and I don’t like a lot of what I see, especially when it comes to the dead baby posters along Boot Road in West Chester. That is Saints Peter and Paul. The church I have liked the best is Saints Philip and James in Exton, but none of them have struck that cord of belonging or did they even wanted me to belong.
But I’m thinking that the Catholic Church in the United States is more business than anything else these days and I don’t know that a lot of people feel like they belong in their parishes. What I learned living on the Main Line before I moved here courtesy of someone I used to refer to as Monsignor Lexus, was you were only as good as the check you could write.
But Pope Francis was someone I actually admired. He didn’t just talk the talk he walked the walk, but that’s what Jesuits do. He tried to take accountability for past wrongs, including pedophile priests, and those unwed girls homes in Ireland, where they worked them like slaves and abused them, and then stole their babies. He also tried to bring the Catholic Church out of the shadows and into more modern times.
Francis was a peacemaker and he literally tried so hard. As an American, I am embarrassed one of his last visitors was the current Vice President. Here’s hoping he taught Vance something.
So now the process starts of choosing a new Pope. Conclave. So within 20 days of the pope’s death, a conclave consisting of 120 cardinals out of the 138 who all must be under age 80 and can vote will gather at the Vatican to pick his replacement. They will vote four times a day until they choose a new Pope.
Savvy’s screenshot gave me pause. Watched the meeting video and then saw a familiar face….
Well in addition to the malarkey over books courtesy of this Mike Lake at Radnor Township School District School Board Meetings, he apparently has an erstwhile assistant? Gosh we’ve all seen her at meetings out here, haven’t we? Radnor residents, we apologize that the dead baby book banning poster toting woman from Great Valley is assisting the foaming at the mouth book banning man in your township now.
Her name is Fenicia Redman and people in Great Valley are rolling their eyes, right? Yeah we remember her and her dead baby posters etc., don’t we? Taxpayers go to pay for her nonsense until the courts eventually dismissed what she was attempting. She wanted the samey same books banned in Great Valley. (And remarkably her GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/5j8tn5 is still up AND Mike Lake donated to it.)
So Mr. Lake, the thing is the police in East Whiteland actually investigated and well ummm….d’oh there was nothing actionable, was there? I mean dude you can ask East Whiteland Police yourself, ok?
So now Fenicia (who tried to get in my face at a historical marker ceremony in September, 2023, because she wanted me to KNOW her and she will tell you that I told her to her face with supervisors, residents, and a state rep right there that I still had NO desire to know her) is being a busy bee in Radnor? Bzzzzzzz and the most important take away? She LOST here in Chester County in the Great Valley School District.
So I noticed in the Savvy Main Line screenshot a woman holding signs. And I looked at the video. I thought nahhh it can’t be, but it was, sadly. I doubt she moved to Radnor Township (although people out here could be hopeful, right?) so I would say she is merely lending her chaos expertise as it were.
Look, this whole thing year after year is ridiculous. It is not up to these people to decide for everyone and everyone’s kids. And I always wonder whose sexuality are they worried about when they go on these crusades?
Anyway, birds of a putrid feather and all that. Barf.
Just remember: she LOST in Great Valley. Here’s hoping Radnor Township School District School Board remember where they left their balls?
Honey Brook Township is the thug politics gift that keeps on gifting, or is that grifting? Haven’t seen any grifting but who knows, right?
My favorite “truth” this Tuesday comes from the lips of the guy running for Honey Brook Township supervisor when he essentially said Valerie Shultz his GOP opponent is bad because she’s a (shock and horrors) COMMUNITY ACTIVIST!
A community activist? Can you IMAGINE? Oh my gosh does she have horns?
And then there is all of the drivel about for whom Valerie works, a pharmaceutical company and why is that bad when her opponent’s wifey ALSO works for a pharmaceutical company?
And lest we forget, he’s a PERFESSIONAL. And if you listen to what he says if you want a bobblehead yes man for your dashboard, he’s your guy. Personally I think dashboard bobbleheads are tacky.
But what is really and truly disturbing is politician and current stupidvisor Sal DiGiacomo. Is he terrified of Valerie Shultz or just an asshole? Hard to tell. And yes, in case the Captains America are wondering I can have these opinions.
Now Stupidvisor Sal really goes out of his way to have conduct unbecoming. He literally trashes Valerie Shultz and claims things are “proven” about her and I would like to know who is this sly dog executioner? I mean besides him, right?
Also in the mix? Mrs. Honeybrook Residents Group Admin who has recently banned politics in the Honey Brook Echo Chamber after essentially getting hoisted by her own petard, yes?
But back to Sal who loves getting his photo taken holding checks. He is astounding and a prime examplewhy Honey Brook Township needs MORE Vals and NO Sals.
Change can be hard for communities, but the way these people are reacting makes you wonder what they are hiding, doesn’t it? And oh by the way there is someone named Cheryl who likes to opine on all things Honey Brook Township like she’s an expert on the area, and hey that’s cool except the little lady doesn’t actually live there…she just works with Stupidvisor Sal’s wifey so does that make her a ringer for the dark side?
And best of all I think I know WHY the stupidvisors hate her other than when people ask normal questions and expect truthful answers from local government it’s a problem is because of the ballot referendum in 2023 that probably scared the crap out of them. In 2023, she initiated a petition to place a referendum on the ballot to add two supervisors to the three-member board. I think that is a great idea and WISH more 2nd class townships would do this. Val is also for having a local police force because the Pennsylvania State Police are so overburdened. That is just common sense, and what I don’t get is why her opponent doesn’t embrace that as a member of Upper Uwchlan’s police force? I mean you would think he would get it, right?
I hope you check it and her out…and remember they are trying so hard with nasty divisive thug politics to keep her off of the ballot and THAT is exactly WHY if you live in Honey Brook Township, you SHOULD vote for her.
It’s time to shake the cobwebs off of the lack of sunshine in this municipality and take out the trash.
So… news out of Caln this morning is Lloyd Farmhouse is safe-ish for now. I say safe-ish because I trust neither the developer nor Caln Township. Maybe this time it will be different because Caln has a manager with a moral compass but who knows?
Thug politics is alive and well in Honey Brook Township. It is time for a change….unless of course you want to continue to see (among other things) blatant sexism on full display.
This guy won’t knock on your door, won’t offer you a cookie (he never eats them naturally) but wants to sit outside in random driveways or streets with lawn chairs and signs like it’s Satriale’s Pork Store?
Forgeddaboutit!
Creepy and intimidating much?
This is yet another example of WHY Valerie Shultz is needed. Also for the record, no one asked me to do this or say anything. This is something I have been keeping an eye on including their ridiculous Pennsyltucky meetings where residents are routinely treated like dirt and yeah baby, First Amendment, and of course now these thug political purveyors in Honey Brook Township will attack me.
Very sad state of affairs out there the land of ad hominem attacks, so help Valerie change it.
These people are nuts and oh yeah this guy’s wife has a pharmaceutical job or something like that doesn’t she? So I’m guessing he maybe doesn’t need help with his campaign expenses, right? So does he want a gold star on his paper for it? Will he pledge to give back his supervisor stipend if elected?
Below is something I captured off of her campaign page just to show you the difference in candidates. And again mind blown, they’re both Republicans. The online attacks have been vicious and they’re constant and they come from sitting supervisors as well. It’s all over social media and not particularly hidden.
So again, you know now they will definitely start attacking me because I don’t know anything or I’m just a woman and I should keep my mouth shut and not point out how truly ignorant they are, right?
I’ve decided what Honey Brook Township doesn’t like most of all is having their dirty laundry aired. They live in their little Pennsyltucky Nirvana, and they seem to think that they are above reproach.
Settantatré is open! Now I know that they have been getting stuff ready this week because my friend has been raving about their coffees. So when I was at Surrey Consignment shop for their big April sale I decided to walk down the strip and check out Settantatré. (The address is 802 Lancaster Ave., Berwyn and it’s where Surrey and E MJ’s are.)
When I went in, they are still setting up, but they have their freezer and refrigerated cases full of goodies and homemade focaccia and I don’t know where the pastries come from. I don’t believe the chef makes them, but I could be wrong. I bought a couple of croissants for Sunday morning breakfast.
Now this business has been making a buzz ever since Matt Gentile and Genna Curcio opened in Milmont Park down in Delaware County. Matt Gentile was the chef at Panorama in Old City and other amazing places like LaCroix and Ela and Parc.
So Chef Matt was there when I went in today and couldn’t be nicer. And me in an Italian food store is probably irritating for some store owners because I have to look at everything. the store is not huge, but it has a great selection of pastas and sauces and soon they will be open for some kind of dinner things in the back. I didn’t get the details on those. That’s just what other people have told me and it says it on the website something about the 73 club.
I don’t need gluten-free pasta so I bought regular pasta which was a treat because I normally make my own. I don’t buy much pasta unless it’s dry. And even then, it’s if I can get certain brands like Garafalo. However, my sister and niece like gluten-free pasta so I’m very excited to have such an amazing place close by.
I will be having one of the raviolis I purchased for dinner with their spicy Rosé pasta sauce.
I also got this spicy tomato nest thing which is goat cheese with sun dried tomatoes and I guess pine nuts and stuff. That is from Shellbark Hollow, whose goat cheese is one of my favorites.
Anyway, I had a swell time visiting this little store. And I think Chef Matt was amused by me because I said look I’m just a regular kind of customer person, not an influencer looking for freebies, but I said I would put a little write up on my blog. My blog means nothing to him and I’m not a food writer. I’m just a home cook. But the real food writers like Craig Le Ban are fans of this Chef and business.
I look forward to my next visit and next time I will make time for coffee because it smelled espresso perfect.
I am including a little tiny video with the bottom for people that are stumped on how to pronounce the name of this business.
I was not compensated in any way shape or form for my visit. No overreaching wannabe influencers were involved either. Just plain old #shopsmall #shoplocal
