The summer concert season is about to kick-off, and unless you want to spend $4 on a bag of fried dough, you need to pack a picnic. Rosario's Butcher Shop, 252 Park Street, Upper Montclair, is Montclair's boss of bosses for all Italian eats. At Rosario's you could stuff your basket or backpack with olives, salami, peppers, arancini, sausage, cheese, and crunchy coal-oven bread direct from Brooklyn. Rosarios will help you create a Little Italy on your picnic blanket to make even Joey D proud.

Rosario Barbalache, a second generation butcher from Calabria, and his wife Michelle, a self-taught master of the Italian table, have been serving Italian specialty foods to Montclair residents since 2004. At Rosario's all butchering is done on-site to guarantee maximum freshness, and his homemade sausage is not to be missed. Rosario also makes fresh mozzarella about four times a day, so you could always find it fresh and warm. They carry a vast array of prepared foods as well as those more hard to find Italian packaged goods.

Also published at www.baristanet.com