Three to five times a year, Richard Harper places a long-distance food order, one that covers 2,700 miles. Whenever he wants to treat himself, relive childhood memories and emotionally revisit his Maine roots, Harper has Italians from Amato’s in Portland shipped to his home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“Oh my God, that bread is amazing — you can’t find that anywhere else,” said Harper, 61, a Falmouth native and executive vice president of a meeting and event planning firm. “The fun part is that they ship me the sandwiches deconstructed, and when I put them together, I pretend I’m in Amato’s kitchen.”