Be afraid, Otto. Be very afraid. All the best pizza joints in Portland have some new, very stiff competition, and it’s on the corner of Washington and Ocean avenues. Monte’s Fine Foods has been open for about a month now, and it’s putting out some of the best pizza in the city. I hesitate to say the best because I haven’t tried the other new kid in town, Coals on Preble Street, and I’ve heard it’s quite good as well.

Monte’s, owned by longtime Portland chef Steve Quattrucci, is an Italian market filled with imported pastas and olive oils, as well as local products such as croissants from Standard Baking Co. A huge cooler section is filled with drinks, including beers, teas, kombuchas, canned cocktails and just about anything else you can think of, much of it locally produced. Wine displays are scattered around the store, and there’s a coffee station in one corner.