A new East Bay specialty market is redefining the meaning of the word bodega. Celia and Joe Catalino’s Of All Places, in Berkeley, recently joined the ranks of small markets such as Preserved and Benchmark Portavia. Instead of a neon Miller High Life sign, customers are greeted by a framed poster of the late Italian actress Monica Vitti. During the 1960s, Vitti was filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni’s muse. Growing up in New Hampshire, it took some time for Joe to begin to appreciate his Italian heritage. On his second visit to Italy, he fell in love with Rome and the southern part of the country. During a phone interview with the couple, Joe Catalino explained that Vitti played a crucial part in connecting him with his roots. “She was goofy and weird, very Italian, and I love that about her,” he said. Vitti is Of All Places’ patron saint; her image presides behind the Catalinos’ front counter. Joe’s restaurant career began at his father’s pizzeria in Portsmouth. He went on to work for Gordon Ramsay in West Hollywood, where he learned about wine. After moving to the Bay Area, he worked as a sommelier at Michael Mina’s RN74. More recently, he held the same job at The Slanted Door in the San Francisco Ferry Building. But during the pandemic, the Catalinos decided to open an online wine club. “It turned into a big wine club and shop,” he said. “We hand-delivered everything throughout the Bay Area.” Although it proved successful, running an online business began to feel impersonal. They came up with the idea to open a shop in their own neighborhood, on Solano Avenue. Celia’s professional background was similar to Joe’s. “My grandmother owned Mexican restaurants in the South Bay,” she said. She grew up cooking with her family, then studied photography at art school. In Los Angeles, where the couple met, Celia ran a catering business before pivoting to food photography, styling and marketing. Of All Places’ shelves are stocked with a diverse array of beautifully packaged foods and beverages. Most are sourced directly from the makers—brands too small to have distributors. Restaurant workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic developed many of the products. “We really wanted to have a place where we could support them and showcase those products by sharing them with the neighborhood,” Celia said. One of the Catalinos’ favorite local products is the salsa from Emmanuel “Manny” Galvan’s Berkeley-based Bolita Masa. Of All Places carries his salsa macha and salsa Serrano. The Catalinos met Galvan when he signed up for the wine club. “We loved his products, and we definitely wanted to carry them,” Celia said. Both brands of coffee for sale are roasted in Oakland—Mother Tongue and Proyecto Diaz. “They’re just two of our favorite East Bay coffee brands, and we wanted to support them as well,” she added. Local beekeeper Kelly Knapp provides her honey to the store under the moniker Miss Bee Haven. And from Bonjerk—there’s no shortage of food puns in this market—Anica Wu makes Asian-spiced jerky. “She was a butcher for eight years before starting her Asian-inspired pork jerky company,” Celia said. “It’s really cool to meet people like that, on their way up or just doing it because they love it.” Of All Places’ interior is too small to fit a food counter, but the market began hosting pop-ups this summer, including Bonjerk and Vanessa Balanon-Padilla’s—a.k.a. Baker V’s—Filipino-inspired baked goods. “They set up out front, which is actually really awesome because they get a ton of exposure,” Celia said. The Catalinos started the wine club again after Of All Places moved out of its initial soft-opening phase. This time it’s pick-up only. Two bottles a month are $50. “We like to say that it’s for an open-minded drinker,” said Celia. “We don’t adhere to a red club or a white club.” With the holidays around the corner, Celia is designing gift boxes in order to make shopping “easy, fun and approachable.” Some customers come in to peruse the shelves and don’t know where to start. Others request explanations about the products, which the Catalinos happily provide. “We might even, eventually, transition the wine club into more of a dinner club,” Joe said, “where you get a bottle of wine and then a few things to put a meal together.” Of All Places; Tue to Sun, 11am to 6pm; 1841 Solano Ave., Berkeley. https://www.ofallplacesmarket.com/; instagram.com/of.all.places