Arthur Avenue Day Trip

For the longest time, I have wanted to make a trip into Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.  I have heard stories about it, good and bad but mostly good.  I was going to write a little story about my day there, but I think I prefer to show instead of tell.

The bottom line is that this is the real Little Italy.  Stores and restaurants are run by Italians and English is heard in about a 50% ratio to Italian.  We went to eat and shop and I have the full belly, bread, scamorza and burrata to prove that we accomplished our mission.

But, as a picture paints 1000 words, on with the show...

Madonia's Bakery

I bought that loaf on the right. Frikkin tasty, crisp on the outside and chewy inside. 

 Fruit and vegetables in the Arthur Ave Market.

Some of the produce looked almost as good as what's in Campo de Fiori.  I said ALMOST.  Still a major compliment.

The cigar roller guy.  Not my cup o' tea.  I think cigars smell like fermented farts and sweaty shoes, but if that's your thing, smoke 'em if you got 'em. 

Seeds from Italy.   I actually bought three packs of these.  I can't keep a ficus alive, but I'm gonna grow my own vegetables from seed.  Delusional? Party of one.

At Cerini  Coffee and Gifts there is an adorable kitty policing the store and sidling up for a scratch behind the ears.

I bought an old school stove top espresso pot here and some of those jelly filled hard candies that every Italian grandmother keeps at the bottom of her purse.  I think it's a law or a birthright or something.

Off to Calandra Cheese Shop to get burrata and scamorza.  

They really shouldn't punish that cheese like that.  It's been so very, very good to me.  I hope this comes close to the scamorza that I had in Sorrento.

Arthur Avenue

A view of the NY Skyline coming over the Throgs Neck Bridge