I spent this past weekend in NYC and had a great time. I attended the wedding of a good friend and spent the rest of the time visiting my son, his girlfriend and her sister and brother-in-law. Naturally we were on the go, sightseeing despite the rain when I first arrived
One of my favorite places in the city is what is known as Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. It is an area consisting of Arthur Avenue, East 187th and Hughes, and is lovingly called the “real Little Italy” of New York. Arthur Avenue is not as touristy nor as crowded as the Little Italy in Manhattan, and here I saw groups of men playing Italian card games outside, very similar to what I saw in Italy.
I loved being there because the shopowners are Italian-American and speak Italian as well as English. I felt almost like I did in Italy when I walked into a panetteria and was able to speak in Italian to the shopowner as I asked permission to take a photo.
Here there are no barkers coming out of the restaurants attempting to get you to come in. It is much more low key and seems like the real deal. As we sat outside at Palombo Pastry Shop and Caffè to have a cappuccino and a cannoli, a group of young locals were conversing in Italian.. Once again I felt at home.
Lunch at Pasquale’s Rigoletto Restaurant was wonderful, especially since I was able to order veal milanese even though it was not in the menu. I will be writing an article for the November issue of La Gazzetta Italiana on the restaurants of Arthur Avenue, so I am not going to elaborate here. More on that later…
imarancher
Reminded me of Miami, especially the old men and their board games. Spanglish is spoken more often among the young than Spanish so it is fairly easy to keep up. The food is terrific and I do miss that but it is the cafe con leche y pan tostados (dark, rich coffee with boiled milk and sugar and Cuban toast) that really makes it for me on a cold damp morning. Ummmm.
And Margie, do not fall in love with Italy to the extent of forgetting us!