Another Most Excellent Field Trip

ABC Wednesday:

A is for Arthur Avenue

Little Italy in The Bronx

The very best place in the

 world to take a dearest friend

Especially if he happens to be Italian!

GB and Gus.  

Gus was GB's high school coach and amazing mentor many years ago. GB's dad died when he was only five, and tho his mom, Mimi, did a most excellent job, Gus did a wonderful job filling in as his coach and dad-like guider to GB during his high school and college years. Believe me, GB needed all the help he could get (Mimi told me so)! The lovely thing? The two of them are closer now than they were then. Visits are regular and planned events!  

We started the day having lunch at Enzo's. An excellent choice, among many other wonderful restaurants along and around Arthur Avenue. 

Dominick's, right next door to Enzo's, is the restaurant we ate at the first time we came to Arthur Avenue with Gus and his wife a few years ago. Found out today that Dominick is Enzo's dad! Obviously son learned well at dad's knee! The meals at both restaurants were wonderful. The difference? Dominick's is family style; everyone sits at several long tables together and the waiter tells you your choices. At Enzo's, you're handed a menu. I still remember the time we ate at Dominick's, Gus made the mistake of asking our surly waiter if the restaurant possibly had some dish (don't remember what it was). SurlyWaiter replied: "Did I say that when I told you the specials? No, I didn't! We don't have that!" All part of the ambience, and somehow it works!

After lunch we wandered into the Arthur Avenue Market. The first time I was there I fully expected to walk in to a warehouse of produce, meats and cheeses. Instead what greets you is an area filled with men (mostly) rolling premium cigars. Hmmm...a little bit of Cuba in Little Italy. As you can see, watching the cigars being made is magical (don't even begin to tell me how bad the cigars are for you, I KNOW! I'm speaking about the art of rolling one - and it is an art form). Wandering further down the aisle, there are displays of kitchen wares, meats, veggies, a myriad of foods and food related items, it's just unending. Definitely sensory overload!  

Just look at that Locatelli! Have you ever seen such an abundance of such a wonderful cheese? What it does to pasta dishes...ohhh can you imagine the goodness?

The hams and sausages - and procuitto, my beloved procuitto! Look at the abundance! Magnificent!

  

Go on over to my Flickr photos (or click on the slide show on the right) and you can see more pics of the Arthur Avenue Market, along with more of the wonderful specialty stores and restaurants that make up Arthur Avenue. It truly is a place not to be missed! The restaurants are wonderful, but the cheeses, breads, fish, cured meats, olive oils, vinegars....you simply can't find any better anywhere! OH! I forgot! There are pastry/sweet shops as well, but I never got photos! I think we were so stuffed from lunch it just never crossed my mind!  BUT, the sweet shops? The best and prettiest sweets with cappucino, espresso, regular coffee you've ever seen. Then there are the gelato shops...oh dear! Must go back and take more photos of this magical enclave! (Sorry I missed those!!)  I can recommend De Lillo's for your dessert and coffee stop after a meal as we had treats & sweets there another time. It's eye candy, and if you have a sweet tooth like my GB, you'll love it!

Do visit the new ABC Wednesday site - Mrs. Nesbitt (and her elves) have done a wonderful job setting up this new site.  And please click here to find my ABC Wed. Arthur Avenue post over there.

~~~

xoabb