A Taste of Little Italy

a
taste
of
Little
Italy
New York is famous for
its whirlwind pace. The
city churns to its own
frenetic rhythm of
8 million people bustling
to get somewhere at
the speed of light. With
so many taxis to hail
and meetings to make,
there’s little room left
for la dolce vita. That is,
unless you head to the
Belmont section of the
Bronx. There you’ll
find a macadam slice of
Italian paradise known as
Arthur Avenue.
WRITTEN BY STACEY MORRIS
LOCATION PHOTOGRAPHER: QUENTIN BACON
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER: PETE KRUMHARDT
FOOD STYLIST: PAIGE BOYLE
Clockwise from top left: canned
tomatoes at Teitel Brothers; panini
sandwiches at Mike’s Deli and
Arthur Avenue Caterers; osso buco
at Peter’s Meat Market; cakes at
Artuso Pastry; crabs at Cosenza’s
Fish Market; the menu at Borgatti’s
Ravioli & Egg Noodles.
Melanzana Ripieni
(recipe, page 107)
Since the turn of the century,
Arthur Avenue
has been a mecca for Italian-Americans who shop for traditional Italian food staples
such as freshly made sausages, pastas, cheeses, oils, and baked goods, as well as a
wealth of Italian imports.
Today, it’s still grocery central for many locals, but word of the neighborhood’s
gastronomic treasures has spread over the years. It’s not unusual to see New
Yorkers from other boroughs and out-of-state tourists dining at neighborhood
restaurants or heading to their cars laden with shopping bags full of breads,
espresso coffee beans, cannolis, sticks of salami, and wheels of cheese.
It’s also no accident that the food and the mood of the avenue go hand in hand.
Arriving at Arthur Avenue is a bit like stepping onto a movie set where
merchants are perennially cheerful and the scenery is quintessentially Italian.
Children gather round for Italian ices from a passing ice cream truck; men in
sunglasses stroll up to the counter of the outdoor oyster bar at Cosenza’s Fish
Market to slurp platters of raw oysters; a white-haired woman shuffles out the door
Italian Spring/Summer 2007
29
Bocconcini Salad
(recipe, page 108)
of Madonia Brother’s Bakery, a loaf of bread under one arm
as she shouts out a “Ciao!” to a friend passing by.
And inside the bustling Arthur Avenue Market, a
noontime throng has formed a line at the counter of Mike’s
Deli and Arthur Avenue Caterers, where hundreds of aging
salami and pepperoni logs festively hang from the ceiling
like crimson party streamers.
The 37-year-old business is run by David Greco and his
father, Michele (pronounced mee-KAY-lay), who hails from
Calabria, Italy.
Mike’s Deli specializes in Italian cured meats such as
prosciutto and pancetta, its own brand of marinara sauces
and olive oils, freshly made panini sandwiches, antipasti
items, and the most sought-after item: mounds of snowwhite mozzarella cheese, made daily by David, who sings out
greetings in Italian to shoppers as he churns.
Mike’s Deli is one of 10 merchants housed in the
enclosed Arthur Avenue Market. The market was opened
in 1940 by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in order to give the
dozens of pushcart merchants, who had lined the avenue for
decades, a more permanent reprieve from the city’s harsh
climatic extremes.
Clockwise from top left: Bocconcini Salad; Orazio Carciotto, owner of Casa Della Mozzarella, kneads a fresh batch of
mozzarella; Carciotto’s mozzarella; prosciutto bread at Madonia Brothers Bakery; worker at Madonia Brothers Bakery;
cheese at Mike’s Deli; aging cheeses and salami at Mike’s Deli; son, David, and father, Michele, at Mike’s Deli; fennel
raisin bread from Madonia Brothers Bakery. Bottom row, continuing clockwise: Chicken and Olives; a fresh rack of chops
at Biancardi Meats; sausages made at Biancardi Meats; Addie Tomei, walking-eating tour guide, visits with Sal Biancardi.
30 Italian Spring/Summer 2007
Arthur Avenue has its share of regular customers,
but each week it is discovered anew by the curious and
the uninitiated. Some are even escorted on a guided tour
through the maze of shops and restaurants.
Native New Yorker Addie Tomei runs Savory Sojourns,
a walking-eating tour business that covers some of the
city’s most gastronomically appealing neighborhoods. Being
Italian herself, Tomei admits Arthur Avenue is one of her
favorite tours. She often travels from her Greenwich Village
neighborhood to shop for her family, which, incidently,
includes the Academy Award-winning actress Marisa Tomei.
“Arthur Avenue is the real little Italy,” she says, leading
a group of awed tourists to the counter of Mike’s Deli for a
mozzarella-making demonstration. “It caters to a workingclass clientele, so you’re not going to get fancy food; you’re
going to get good food.”
Chicken and Olives
(recipe, page 108)
Arthur Avenue is
a bit like stepping
onto a movie set
where merchants
are perennially
cheerful and
the scenery is
quintessentially
Italian.
Back on the avenue, Tomei and her tour stop to stare
at the quail, rabbit, and goat hanging from hooks in the
window of Biancardi Meats, a full-service butcher shop.
“You cook those just like clams oreganatta,” says owner
Sal Biancardi, pointing to a bowl of goat heads on ice. “A
little bread crumbs, seasoning, and butter—it’s delicious.”
Biancardi Meats is now into its fourth generation. Sal
left his Wall Street career as a foreign currency trader in
1997 to run the family business, which booms daily with
orders for handmade sausage, veal, lamb, and baby goat, as
well as traditional items such as ground beef and chicken.
A few doors down is Teitel Brothers, a tiny import store
that was opened in 1915 by Austrian immigrants Jacob and
Maurice Teitel. Nearly a century later, the store is still run by
family. Jacob’s sons Gilbert and Benjamin and Gilbert’s son,
Ed, oversee the company’s operations, which now include a
sizable mail-order business.
“We just shipped some Parmagiana and olive oil to a
military base in Kuwait,” says Gilbert.
Italian cold cuts at the
deli counter are what
continue to draw
generations of
customers through
the door.
Inside the tiny store, which is closed on Jewish holidays,
customers are often wall-to-wall as they rummage for exotic
imports, stacked floor to ceiling. Pungent Sicilian olive oils,
balsamic vinegars, amaretto cookies, saffron, bins of dried
figs, and Italian cold cuts at the deli counter continue to
draw generations of customers through the door.
The next stop is Borgatti’s Ravioli & Egg Noodles. Unlike
other Arthur Avenue merchants, Borgatti’s specializes in
one thing—handmade pastas. Walk into the neighborhood’s
oldest pasta producer and you’ll probably find Mario Borgatti
churning out golden strands of egg noodles from a massive iron
pasta machine behind the counter.
Borgatti’s has been crafting ravioli (ricotta-spinach and
meat), linguine, cappellini, and lasagne since 1935.
“Our most popular is the ricotta-stuffed ravioli,”
Mario says as he opens a white cardboard box to reveal
six immaculate rows of the golden, stuffed pasta. “We just
shipped some to Europe last week.”
32 Italian Spring/Summer 2007
Cavatelli con Broccoli Rabe
(recipe, page 108)
Fettuccine Alla Carbonara
(recipe, page 108)
Clockwise from top
left: Tricolor grocery
store sign; Gilbert
Teitel, owner of Teitel
Brothers imports store,
with sons; Fettuccine Alla
Carbonara; worker at
Borgatti’s; a mound of
fresh egg noodles;
Chris Borgatti, son of
Mario, making pasta;
special of the day at
Borgatti’s; Kay Muton
presents her batch
of cappellini; Mario
Borgatti; Cavatelli con
Broccoli Rabe; vats of
olives at Teitel Brothers.
Clockwise from top left: Roberto Paciullo, owner and chef at Roberto Restaurant,
explains his philosophy on Italian hospitality; a partial glimpse at the wine
selection at Roberto Restaurant; Peter Servedio (right), owner of Peter’s Meat
Market, and his nephew and business partner, Mike Rella, take a break from
working to smile at visitors; coils of freshly made sausages at Peter’s Meat
Market; everything from rabbit to quail can be found on Arthur Avenue.
Shell Steak with Cherry Peppers
and Beer Sauce
(recipe, page 109)
The food,
the people,
the stores ...
it’s what a
neighborhood
should be.
34 Italian Spring/Summer 2007
Stuffed Pork Chops
(recipe, page 109)
The neighborhood that encompasses the Arthur Avenue
merchants is a small community, with grids of stores and
restaurants bound together in a triangle. It spreads from
183rd Street to 188th Street and along East 187th Street to
Beaumont Avenue.
Within the triangle, on Crescent Avenue, is Roberto
Restaurant and its country-style Southern Italian cuisine,
which attracts tourists and New York showbiz clientele
alike. Owner and Salerno, Italy, native Roberto Paciullo
makes his way to every table during the lunchtime rush,
gauging customer reaction to the day’s specials of penne
with an aromatic cauliflower-tomato sauce and lambstuffed ravioli. “And you must-ah try the Torta di Ricotta
for dessert,” Paciullo advises a diner, his hands a flurry of
passion. “I made it myself this morning.”
There’s still more for Tomei’s tour group to see: the
16-foot brick ovens of Terranova Bakery, Our Lady of
Mount Carmel Church, and Artuso Pastry, where cannoli
and creamy tiramisu glisten behind glass cases in the same
fashion as jewelry.
“Everyone who comes to Arthur Avenue has to try a
cannoli,” says Tomei with a smile.
The day is drawing to a close; garden lights begin to
twinkle inside the neighborhood restaurants and cafes;
shoppers are heading home with bags of sumptuous
ingredients for home-cooked meals; and Tomei’s tour
group is purring with satisfaction.
“You know what I love about this place,” says a woman
visiting from Arizona. “It’s real. The food, the people, the
stores … it’s what a neighborhood should be.”
Italian Spring/Summer 2007
35
Baked Clams
(recipe, page 109)
Arthur Avenue has
its regular customers
for sure, but each
week it’s
discovered anew
by the curious
and the
uninitiated.
36 Italian Spring/Summer 2007
more Little Italys
Visit other Italian-American neighborhoods throughout
the United States where you’ll be tempted by the sights,
sounds, and smells of Italian cuisine and culture that take
place year-round.
Baltimore – Between the Inner Harbor and Fell’s Point
is Baltimore’s Little Italy, a 12-block enclave. Italians began
immigrating here in the mid-19th century. Today the
neighborhood is home to numerous Italian restaurants and
hosts several ethnic festivals during the summer.
Boston – The North End: This neighborhood borders
Commercial Street and the JFK Highway. The North End
is marked by narrow streets, red brick houses, and Italian
restaurants and food shops.
Chicago – Taylor Street: The 1400 block of West
Taylor Street attracts visitors who come to savor classic
Italian food, admire stately churches, and bask in the
neighborhood’s friendly atmosphere.
San Francisco – It’s not difficult to evoke a feeling
of romantic Italy in the city’s North Beach section,
filled with outdoor cafes, Italian restaurants, pastry
shops, and a vibrant music scene. Each June, the North
Beach Festival (San Francisco’s oldest street fair)
unfolds along Grant Avenue and Green Street. Each
October, North Beach celebrates its Italian heritage by
paying tribute to Christopher Columbus
St. Louis – The Hill: Restaurants, groceries, and
bakeries abound in this neighborhood, located between
Southwest Boulevard, the Hampton Avenue commercial
district, the Kingshighway overpass, and I-44. Try to
include a stop at the Missouri Baking Company (2027
Edwards Avenue) for authentic and delicious Italian
cookies, pastries, and breads.
Wilmington, Delaware – Beginning in 1820, waves
of Italian immigrants were drawn to the Wilmington
area by a wealth of railroad and construction jobs.
Today it still thrives with a wealth of restaurants
and import shops as well as a weekly farmer’s market
on Saturdays and a jubilant St. Anthony’s Festival
every June. The neighborhood is contained within
the loop of Pennsylvania Avenue and Union, 4th,
and Clayton Streets.
The Arthur Avenue Cookbook by Ann Volkwein
is a 209-page guide to Arthur Avenue
restaurants and merchants filled with their
favorite recipes. The hardcover book retails
for $34.95 and is available at major bookstores,
www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www
.ecookbooks.com, and at most Arthur Avenue merchants.
Clockwise from top left: Baked Clams; a sunny afternoon at Umbertos Clam House; Umbertos Clam House, where owner
Umberto Ianniello offers recipes and sauces brought to Arthur Avenue by his Naples-born mother; Pignoli Cookies; two
workers at Artuso Pastry; preparing displays of Italian pastries and cookies at Artuso Pastry; clams, shrimp, and crab at
Cosenza’s Fish Market; rows of fresh fish at Cosenza’s Fish Market; an array of condiments at Cosenza’s raw bar.
Pignoli Cookies
(recipe, page 110)