Tiramisu Is Just the Right Number of Things
Even in these confused times, there are a few truths no one can dispute. Seltzer is the only true embodiment of the current human condition. The New York Knicks will always find a way to be terrible. And, when it is made correctly, tiramisu is a perfect dessert. Tiramisu is not everything, but it is the correct number of things. The flavors — coffe...
ITA Kitchen, New Italian Restaurant, Debuts In Bay Shore
Located in the heart of Bay Shore, ITA, short for Italian American, provides a fine Italian dining experience with a more casual environment. The 2,300 square-foot eatery serves classic Italian specialties with a new age twist. On the menu, you’ll find lunch and dinner options like calamari, pesto risotto balls, veal chops, quinoa bowls and more. P...
Arthur Avenue’s Little Italy Packed As Customers Seek Out Last-Minute Ingredients For Christmas Feasts
There’s was last-minute shopping rush on in the Bronx on Monday. But not for gifts. It was for food. As the days count down to Christmas, CBS2’s Andrea Grymes visited Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section of the borough. Monday is the busiest day of the year in the Bronx’s Little Italy. “I now live in Montclair, N.J., so I had to come all the way ba...
Brooklyn’s Oldest Butchers
At any of Brooklyn’s old-school butcher shops, you’ll find loyal customers whose continued patronage comes from a pride bordering on smugness: no need to defend something so eminently, obviously wonderful as insisting on the best meat. For the Italian American community, that means great soppressata, fresh sausage, and prime antipasto. For the Poli...
NYC’s 31 Top Italian Restaurants
New York City excels at many things, but one of its finest is Italian food. The area is known as the birthplace of red-sauce, Italian-American fare, and within the five boroughs lie perfect evocations of the form. But all of Italy is represented here, too, from doughy Neapolitan pizza to rustic Tuscan dishes to saucy Sicilian specialties. This list...
Long Islanders keep Feast of the Seven Fishes alive
On Christmas Eve morning, a few things were usually certain in and around Westbury, where I grew up: For one, there was a line at the bakery (in this case, Cardinali Bakery in Carle Place) for Italian bread and semolina rolls. A few miles away at the fish market, there was also a line, one that had snaked out the door since early morning as people...
A conversation with the gatekeeper of Bamonte’s Restaurant
On a quiet residential street of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Bamonte’s Italian restaurant celebrates 118 years and four generations of seamless family transition. Bamonte’s phone rings non-stop. Most Friday afternoons, the restaurant refuses reservations for the weekend. Its 25 tables are filled, thanks in part to John “Bamonte.” He allows this journa...
At Enoteca Maria on Staten Island, Grandmas from Across the Globe Run the Kitchen
When we think of a fantastic Italian restaurant, what comes to mind? The heat of a wood-fired pizza oven, the aroma of garlic and basil on top of freshly prepared pasta, the pervasive smell of fresh clams and octopus. But what about matzah ball soup or grape leaves? What about chefs speaking Arabic, Japanese, and Sinhalese? What about grandmas from...
THE MECCA OF PIZZA: LOMBARDI'S IN LITTLE ITALY, NYC
One Lucky kid got one of the first pizza shops in America, Lombardi's in Little Italy, NYC all to herself and made four pies. Even French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited Lombardi's in late September, was not allotted this high honor. For those currently walking the Earth, pizza has always been around. Every major city in the world has it so...
Sempre Fame True To Its Italian Name -- 'Always Hungry' -- On Long Island
BBQ restaurant Sempre Fame, Italian for “Always Hungry,” has been serving up southern specialties on Long Island for more than seven years. Located at 374 Tulip Avenue in Floral Park, Sempre Fame Gourmet Grill & BBQ Catering features a menu loaded with hearty appetizers and entrees like mac n’ cheese, smoked chicken wings, homemade pork rinds, slid...
Seven Feasts Of The Seven Fishes To Indulge In New York City On Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve means seafood for those subscribing to the Italian American tradition of The Feast of The Seven Fishes. The the origins of the annual festive meal are murky, the withstanding tradition is certainly delicious. Some prefer to indulge in seven types of seafood in seven courses, while others may focus on one or two types and prepare it se...
At Marco's Italian Deli, Sangwiches are more than sandwiches
Four Marco’s Italian Delis across Buffalo and its Northtowns serve fresh, flavorful Sangwiches. It only made sense, though, to stop by the Hertel Avenue location – in our city’s Italian heart – to try a couple. A friend and I were pleasantly greeted by the voice of Frank Sinatra and the smell of fresh, warm sesame-seed bread. The place is warm, cle...