Cousins open Piccola Pasta Shop, fresh handmade pasta arrives in Great Kills

Piccola Pasta Shop opened at 3939 Amboy Road in Great Kills with a straightforward promise: fresh handmade pasta every day, made with traditional Italian techniques. The new shop sells house-made sauces, curated Italian imports, local specialty goods and gluten-free items, and its retail menu runs from pasta shapes and house specialties to ravioli, gnocchi and weekly specials. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The cousin-owned operation adds another stop to Staten Island’s Italian food map, and its story reaches back to Piccolino Ristorante on Broadway in Bayonne, where Jorge Barreto Jr. worked closely with his uncle, Hugo Barreto. The people behind the shop include Jorge Barreto Jr., Jorge Barreto Sr. and cousin Luigi Barreto, a family setup that gives Piccola its identity as clearly as the pasta in the case.

The shop came together quietly over about a year in a former veterinary clinic a few doors down from Piccolino Ristorante, and the buildout reflects a serious production mindset. The pasta-making machinery came from a century-old manufacturer in Queens, tying the operation to older, small-batch methods even as it presents like a polished retail pasta counter. That old-world process matters because the shop’s own pace is deliberate, with ravioli alone taking up to eight hours to make.

Piccola is not trying to be only a walk-in market. The business says it is already working wholesale with chefs, restaurants, caterers and private chefs, and delivery is not available yet, though it is expected in the future. That broader reach gives the shop a foothold beyond Great Kills while keeping the storefront centered on on-site service, in-store pickup and shopping.

For Staten Island, the opening fits a South Shore dining scene that keeps making room for new Italian and pasta-focused projects. Great Kills has long rewarded places that do one thing well, and Piccola Pasta Shop leans hard into that idea with daily production, a tight retail operation and the kind of handmade pasta that still feels worth a special trip.