Jennifer Prezioso
[Originally published in office magazine Issue 20, Fall-Winter 2023. Order your copy here]
What is your ideal office?
My ideal work space is where I am! Although there can always be improvements, sometimes I stop and look around and think how wonderful it is that I’m working where my family has worked for years and years.
If your palate were a playlist, what would be the opening track?
Some old, southern Italian folk song. After that Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up Pt. 1”.
What’s a common misconception you hate?
That Italian-Americans aren’t really Italian. I think there’s a whole range within our culture but it’s really hard to judge from the other side. At the core, our country is based on immigrants that continue their traditions, some for over a century, and I think it's beautiful.
What is your relationship with texture?
I am cutting meat every day so it’s a job where I’m always using my hands. A lot of measuring, feeling the thickness of cutlets mixed with the gentle pressure of the knife. When my grandfather was there, it was like watching a sculptor. In the store itself from the wooden butcher block to the cold marble all along the workspace — even the plaster walls — everything has a story to tell you.
Is there an object that has made a remarkable impression on you?
My handsaw. Everyone thinks it’s so difficult that it takes a lot of effort or strong arms for it. I asked my grandpa what the secret was and he told me it’s about being delicate and effortless — like a jeweler cutting through metal.
How would you define community?
Come to the store and you will see!
Do you have a safe place in the city?
Elizabeth Street Garden. The city has been threatening to turn it into temporary senior housing (and eventually market rate apartments). Besides the store, it is the only place where the community can get together and it’s been a wonderful place to visit, take my friends, and recommend to tourists in the neighborhood.
Who would play you in a movie about your life?
Me, of course! I have a fine arts degree in acting. But also I am in love with the Italian actors Gaia Girace and Simona Tabasco.
What is your biggest fear?
Time. Always never having enough of it. With myself, with people, with places.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Be bold, be bigger. Always. Never be small. Never think you are being annoying. Go for what you want and grab it.
