Marino Meat and Food Store

One of the perks of owning a specialty food store is that lunch is as easy as choosing something from one of your shelves. At least, that’s the case for Ricardo Marino, the third-generation owner of Marino Meat and Food Store at the Adelaide Central Market.

The store is filled to the brim with Italian and other European food products. One of the first of its kind in Adelaide, the Gouger Street-facing shop has been a continental butcher and deli since the early 1950s. The Marino family purchased the store in 1975, and in the intervening decades, it’s been a crucial stop for Central Market shoppers looking for meat, cheese, olive oil, pasta and more.

Over the years the customer base has changed – Marino’s is more appealing to young people than ever before. That meant that a fresh look for the shop was required. The Marinos enlisted Sans-Arc Studio and artist and typographer Tristan Kerr of Uppercase Studio for help.

Inspiration was drawn from the places the Marinos had seen interstate and overseas and the result is a stylish one. There’s gold-leaf typeface on the shopfront windows, timber shelves and thoughtfully arranged products. Checkered tiles on the floor and wooden panelling on the ceiling pays tribute to the heritage of the space.

There’s also an emphasis on showing customers how food is made; pasta is made on-site daily and meat is dry-aged and displayed in a fridge shelves with pink Himalayan salt bricks.

Outside the store, a pop-up bar serving porchetta rolls and freshly-piped cannoli has become a permanent Central Market fixture.