Arthur Avenue, The Bronx, June 2007

Phew!

Sorry for the delayed first post, everyone. Let's skip the excuses and get right down to business.

A few weekends ago, Obe dragged two friends up to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the area, Arthur Avenue is justly lauded as the "real" Little Italy of New York City. Here's a website that the merchants of Arthur Avenue set up about their neighborhood: http://www.arthuravenuebronx.com/

Honestly, though, even this Little Italy isn't very large. It's vastly better than the remnants of Little Italy in Manhattan, which is basically a tourist trap adjunct of Chinatown. There's an element of touristiness to Arthur Avenue as well, but it's not nearly as pervasive.

After a lovely train ride on Metro-North, a famished Obe and friends stopped at Emilia's Restaurant on Arthur Avenue. We ordered the Mozzarella Fantasia appetizer, which came out promptly, along with tons of warm, tasty bread. The dish, pictured below, consisted of fresh mozzarella, lettuce, roasted red peppers, and crisp sliced beefsteak tomato, with some drizzles of olive oil.

Perhaps needless to say, the Mozzarella Fantasia did not last very long. Our lunches came out soon thereafter. Pasta carried the day, as our three lunches below display:


After a satisfying lunch, Obe and friends headed across the street to the fabled Arthur Avenue Retail Market. Built in the 1930's by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in order to clear peddlers and merchants from the crowded, busy streets, the Retail Market has thrived ever since. Cigar-rollers, Mike's Deli, fruit stands, and bakeries all hustle and bustle beneath its roof, and it remains a bona fide New York establishment in an era of proliferating chain stores.
Non-descript on the outside, wonderous on the inside.


Baby lambs! And baby goats! Alas, Obe's picture of a baby lamb did not come out well, but amuse yourselves with the picture of hanging meat below:

Obe stopped by Mike's Deli (pictured above) in order to pick up some prosciutto wrapped in fresh mozzarella cheese. See below and you'll realize why the prosciutto didn't survive to see another day.

After devouring nearly half a pound of prosciutto and mozzarella, Obe and friends headed next door to Madonia Brothers Bakery. Madonia Brothers is usually the winner of the best cannoli in New York, though Obe lives by another serious contender for that prize. Madonia's secret seems to be that they hand fill the cannoli while you wait. That way, the cannoli shell remains crunchy and does not have time to get soggy, as is the case with most bakeries that fill cannolis en masse beforehand. The ricotta cheese used for the filling is also sweet, but not in an overwhelming sugary way. It has more of a refined dairy taste, which seems to work a lot better than the cloying sweetness most cannolis feature.



It's magical.

And here's a close-up of that cannoli, which quickly met its fate not long after this photograph was taken:

The photo speaks for itself. Obe plans to return to Arthur Avenue again in the near future.