MATTHEWS, N.C. — When Enza Pilla and her husband Richard Garcia decided to open an Italian deli and market in Matthews, they had plenty of life experience to pull from but no formal background in the food industry.

Both of Pilla’s parents are Italian and she says her mother cooked all the time.

“That’s all my mom did. Every day, we had pasta,” Pilla said.

Now, Pilla makes sauces, lasagnas and baked ziti just like her mom did at a place that carries her late mother’s name, Nonna Maria’s.

The deli serves sandwiches and New York bagels, and the market carries oils, cheeses and pastas from Italy — all the things the couple craved when they moved to Charlotte from New York a few years ago.

“We had to have something Italian,” Pilla said.

Nonna Maria’s Italian Deli & Market is at 2332 Matthews Township Parkway. The market is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

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