Our first trip to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Any reccos? (Updated)

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

Calabria Pork Store

Pizza from Zero Otto Nove

22

Yes. My impression is that the street and a few neighboring streets are still mostly inhabited by Italian-Americans and that the stores and restaurants are run by Italian-Americans. Of course, the cooks are all from Mexico, but that’s America! [wink.gif]

Sharon Jones is great. She worked as a guard at Rikers Island before she was “discovered”.

23

On the way back from some important family business this week I was able to finally stop in on the famous Arthur Avenue.
I have got to say, it was everything I hoped for; none of the tacky (ok, one store) shops with the ‘Kiss Me I’m Italian’ stuff, but the food is the real deal. The mozzarella at Casa della Mozzarella is the best I have ever had period, and stupendous on last nights pizza. A cross sampling of breads/cookies and cheeses really proved to me once again that people when passionate about what they do, can really do it well. (I knew that but it’s great to see in action).
We were going to stop in at Zero-Notto for the pizza when I happened into Full Moon for a quick slice. I must say that with all of the options for NY styled pizza in the city, this is the best I have had in years. The crust was crunchy and perfectly cooked while lightly powdered and imbedded in cornmeal. So good that I went back inside for other slices to try and realized quick enough that Zero-Notto will have to wait until next time. I had one slice that was a white pie with seemed like a fine layer of mascarpone beneath the mozzarella, all with some slices of fresh tomato, all so very nicely balanced. Another was the marinara slice which was nicely seasoned and also perfectly intuned with what these guys are doing.
The bread from Addeo’s was akin to something from my childhood and brought me back to walking with my grandfather for the Sunday bread, those breads that never arrived at my grandparent house with any ‘ends’ and grandma always yelled at him, not me.

We did have some badly made cheesecake though from a shop not mentioned here, which only proves that you guys really do rock. [worship.gif]

After getting a few pasta making gadgets I did not have at Cellini’s, as well as some cleaner for my espresso machine we toyed with picking up some sausages from the Market. The selection of meats was amazing. Next time, real soon…

Thanks for all the great recco’s. Nice to see an area like this survive and thrive in todays environment.

24

Hey Mike; Very glad you enjoyed the trip!! [highfive.gif]

Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]

25

Trip # 2 (3 if you count the pop-in for a few things on the way to the parents in CT 4th of July weeked)

I love this place. It’s become one of our favorite places.
This trip we tried ZERO OTTO NOVE pizza, Holy CRAP!! This is one of the best pizzas I have had in NY for a long time. Perfectly cooked, dotted with some perfect char and seasoned to perfection. We had three pies: The margarita, one called the Dievole (margarita with perfect tooth-picked hot sopressata, and a quartra frommagia (which had a smoked mozzarella that was a bit too strong for my taste).
I am glad to have tried this and thankful for the reccos here. We also grabbed some fresh pastas from the market, some cheeses, breads (from Modonia), cookies from De Lille and fresh quail from Peters. Overall, just a perfect late summer Friday afternoon.

Jorge, you are correct. Best pizza in a long time. [cheers.gif] [cheers.gif] [cheers.gif]

26

Today is a good day for a walk on Arthur Ave. And after our walk, lunch. [wink.gif]

27

Been there twice on this trip…even sent home 2 large chunks of parmessan and over a pound of dried porcinis. We can’t get this quality easily in California. The first run was to Casa de Mozz and for New Year’s Eve osso bucco from Peter’s.
Love that place!
Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]

28

I’m never going to eat Italian food in Brooklyn or Manhattan ever again.

Arthur Ave is 25 minutes from my house. We got down there just as the opened at 1:00. Glad we did. There was a crowd hanging out by the door as they opened. We were seated within minutes of arrival.

Unbelievable bread and olive oil started our dining adventure.

We ate light, since it was lunch. We shared an arugla salad that had a healthy serving of fresh pecorino romano cheese on it.

Next we shared an eggplant parm dish. This was no ordinary eggplant parm. Picture this. They stacked 3 pieces of eggplant, maybe 3’ round, and topped with fresh mozarella that was cooked ever so brown. There was a firmness to this dish, unlike the standard soft and oily that so many restaurants serve. We should have ordered a portion to go, but I expect we’ll be back next Sunday at 1:00.

As for the pizza that Mike raved about above… [cheers.gif] Oh boy. I’ve been to lots of boutique -ie pizza places, but no one does pizza this good. Cooked just right, this pizza is made with fresh imported tomato sauce from Italy. Now here’s the best part. A healthy portion of somewhat thin fresh mozzarella cheese is topping what I can only say is pizza perfection.

For the price of a pie that can be shared by 2 people, the cost of ~$12 to the high teens, you can live well.

We can’t wait to go there for lunch or dinner. The wine list is all Italian.

29

I may have a trip in line for this coming Saturday. It’s overdue.
Love this place.