Eleanor Friedman, a native New Yorker, and her husband, Gianpiero Pepe, a Southern Italian met in Siena, Italy. At that time Eleanor was apprenticing as a butcher and norcino (salumi producer) and Gianpiero was running a local restaurant.  

Gianpiero and Eleanor decided to move to New York to be closer to Eleanor’s family. Their dream was to open a small salumeria in the Italo-Tuscan style; to use the techniques learned in Italy, while honoring their home in the Northeast by sourcing local pasture-raised pigs. After an extensive search for the right place for their salumeria, Eleanor and Gianpiero found the perfect location in Hurleyville, NY, a hamlet in the Catskills that allows them to be closer to the farmers they work with.

La Salumina's ongiong commitment is to offer the best possible salumi for those who choose to eat meat; both in terms of taste, and also with respect to environmental impact. We have found that through careful sourcing we can buy pork that has enriched and not endangered the land.

 We are focused on producing as little waste as possible, and promise to work towards no waste. We will keep you, our customers, informed of our efforts. So that we can accomplish our goals, we intend to tackle one key environmental/climate issue at a time. Ideally we hope to help create a model for other small businesses and individuals to do the same.