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I will miss the Oktoberfest this year. Dr. B offered to pack me off to my girlfriends in Munich for a week. Call me crazy, but after barely seeing him for 5 years, I passed. I hope all my friends are enjoying a splendid Wiesn’ and I hope to be there next year.
Of course that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to do here in New York. The Feast of San Gennaro is a celebration in Little Italy I’ve attended on and off since the 80’s but it’s been a good 10 years since I’ve been there. So instead of wielding a maß (liter mug of beer) and a giant pretzel, I walked down to Little Italy to stuff my face bask in a little festival atmosphere.
This is the festival’s 85th year. San Gennaro is the patron saint of Naples and the festival pays homage to early italian immigrants to NYC.
But today the feast is all about feasting.
Even non food items for sale were about food.
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| Fridge Magnets |
For me, it’s always about the cannolis. Always. So dessert first it was.
There were plenty of the usual varieties but cannolis have gone artisanal. Who knew?
With flavors like birthday cake and peanut butter cup, I was in cannoli heaven. My favorite was the mint chocolate chip.
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| Mega Yum |
Pizza might have been a silly choice but I was first intrigued by this ziti version…
I passed and went with the pizza with vodka sauce. Had to.
Not so much cheese but it was all about the sauce and all about the yum.
MozzArepas? Never heard of them so I had to try.
Fried corn cakes with mozzerella in the middle.
O.M.G. It was way too greasy to finish the whole thing but it was fabulous.
I admit I hesitated briefly in front of that sign.
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| Fried Oreos |
But I just couldn’t go there. Pass.
Pickle Me Pete was serving up some interesting choices.
My pick was the super spicy version. It looks like that was everyone else’s too.
Can’t forget to mention the cookies and candy…
The festival still has plenty of attitude.
With a bit of Jersey Shore on the side.
It’s still quirky.
What’s a feast without basta bananas?
Or a little tiki time?
It was great to see this event is still filled with great NYC character and characters.
Fuggedaboudit!
9 comments
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I love your blog, but have never commented before (usually I'm over a week behind reading them!). I just had to say that you have to try deep fried Oreos sometime–they are *so* good! OTOH, it looks like there was so much good food at the festival, that saving the Oreos for another time was probably a good call. 🙂
So, did you see the headless girl?? What was that all about?
Sausage and peppers! My mom used to have an office in the North End of Boston, right across from Pizzeria Regina. The festivals were so amazing for eating!!
I might just have to cook some sausage and peppers next week.
I miss cannoli. Amazingly, one cannot find cannoli (good or bad) in Vermont.
Looks like so much fun! This post made my tummy rumble and now I'm wondering how to get my hands on some pizza with vodka sauce for lunch…
My grandmother used to live a block away from Arthur Avenue and so we used to go to the festival all the time when i was a kid. It was great seeing these photos and reliving those memories!
Ok, I wrote that without seeing the "click thru" button or the post in its entirety (it's early!). Fab pics! Thanks for the tour! Loved seeing some of these novelties.
Enjoy your feast, and welcome back to the States!
Oh I'm jealous, i would have loved to have gone to this!