Off the Hook: Moody’s Delicatessen & Provisions to Open in Waltham

Photograph by Michael Piazza

Chef Joshua Smith is planning a carnivorous takeover of Greater Boston. This month, the Tico and Four Seasons alum launches Moody’s Delicatessen & Provisions, a Waltham gourmet shop and deli offering piled-high sandwiches and specialty sundries, but that’s just the beginning. From a space in the back of Moody’s, Smith will produce a USDA-approved line of retail and wholesale charcuterie products under the label New England Charcuterie.

It’s something that the 37-year-old chef has been striving for since the age of 19, when he began working as a butcher at Dean & DeLuca. “In my hours off the clock at restaurants, I would make pâtés and terrines to feature on the menu,” Smith says. “I’ve been successfully making these meats for a while now, and I want to legitimize it and wholesale it.”

New England Charcuterie products (pictured) will be available at Moody’s and other local restaurants, and eventually at Four Seasons hotels nationwide. Why the permanent switch from life behind the hot line to a career crafting cured meats and rillettes? Smith says there’s a thrill to seeing how his homemade bologna, mortadella, hot dogs, and the like create a nostalgic longing in people. “To be a part of that,” he says, “is just so much more special than cooking a steak.”

Moody’s Delicatessen & Provisions, 468 Moody St., Waltham.