Little Italy

SPQR Closed in Little Italy; Broken English Will Become Jarro in Carroll Gardens

SPQR in Little Italy closed this week, Grub Street reported. The restaurant on Mulberry Street had been open in some capacity for 30 years, but the phone lines are disconnected and many of the items inside the space were auctioned off, including coffee makers, wine racks, and stoves. The building th ... More >>

5 Best Croissants in NYC

Here's the croissant that won. Note the careful radial layering of pastry levels, and you can almost smell the butter. What are you looking for in a croissant? This quintessential French pastry -- shaped like the horns on a steer -- should be flaky, buttery, and paradoxically both light and substa ... More >>

5 Great Restaurants in Little Italy

Now that this year's San Gennaro festival has stuffed its last cannoli, my neighborhood has returned to its relaxed self. While I'm all in favor of the Old Country vibe surrounding most of Mulberry Street, my go-to spots around Little Italy and NoLIta aren't actually Italian (except for one!). [See ... More >>

Friend Fork in the Road on Facebook!

Hi there, friend. Not only are we on Twitter @ForkintheRoadVV these days, but you can like us on Facebook at ForkintheRoadVV.

Our 10 Favorite Far Downtown Restaurants

It's generally agreed that the area below Chambers Street is a food no-man's-land. However, take a closer look and you'll find a number of options that don't just fill a void, but are top-notch. We've rounded up our 10 favorites, and lumped Battery Park City and the Financial District together, for ... More >>

Jeremiah Moss Eulogizes Ray's Pizza

A day in the life of Jeremiah Moss, the writer behind the blog Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, is outlined in the Paris Review Daily. In the profile, Moss pays a visit to the original Ray's Pizza on the last day it's open and laments the decline of the ever-gentrifying neighborhood. (A new pizza plac ... More >>

Olio Verde Novello (Green Olive Oil) at Buon Italia, Gift Suggestion #9

​Note that E.V. on the sign stands for "Extra Virgin," not "East Village." What's cloudy and pine-tree green? Olio Verde Novello, sometimes called New Olive Oil or Green Olive Oil.

The AKC Names Brooklyn the 'Dachshund' of Neighborhoods

Brooklyn plus bun.​As they gear up for their big Meet the Breeds event on November 19th and 20th at the Javits Center, the American Kennel Club and the International Cat Association have been doing some thinking about what breeds "match" which of New York City's neighborhoods. Jessica Rice of ... More >>

Porchetta at Di Palo's, Dish No. 18

​There's a certain place in the East Village that offers porchetta sandwiches so warm and succulent that everyone knows about it. Porchetta, as you probably know, is a rolled pork roast stuffed with garlic, fresh herbs, and fennel, with the skin wrapped tightly around it so the juices stay in ... More >>

Link Found Between Pesticides and ADHD; Peruvian Food Next Big Thing (Again)

​BaoHaus's Sweet Bao fries, portabello fries at Sea Grill, and cactus fries at Toloache are just some of the alternatives to French fries around town these days. [NY Post] Now that we finally have healthy food in school cafeterias, food trucks selling junk are parking nearby to lure kids away ... More >>

Joe Liberatore, the Last of the Original Arthur Avenue Retail Market Vendors, Has Died

Arthur Avenue, the Real Little Italy of New York/FacebookJoe Liberatore​Today marks the sad end of another era: Joe Liberatore, the last of the original Arthur Avenue Retail Market vendors, has died.

Little Italy Replaces Greeters with Suave 'Maitre Ds'; Menu Calorie Counts Can't Be Trusted

​It appears that Little Italy is trading in its pushy greeters in favor of "outside maitre d's": suave young gentlemen who attract lady tourists with their eyes. [NY Post] The Hurt Locker star Anthony Mackie's new Bed-Stuy bar NoBar welcomed stars like Samuel L. Jackson and Sam Rockwell at it ... More >>

Robert Sietsema at Banana Leaf; Lauren Shockey at The Dutch

This week in the Voice, Robert Sietsema samples Ceylonese starches at Banana Leaf in Chelsea; Lauren Shockey gets a table at the most-hyped restaurant of the year, The Dutch. Sam Sifton also weighs in on The Dutch, deeming one dish: "the culinary equivalent of Jay-Z playing cards in the kitchen of ... More >>

Bee Swarms Invade Manhattan, Again

Bees in Little Italy in May​It's been a season of bees, so to speak, with swarms making news in Little Italy and across our fevered nation. And now the otherwise humdrum Flatiron District, DNA Info reports, has been hit with not one but two giant swarms of honeybees -- one at the Perfume Wareh ... More >>

Is Eataly Eating Little Italy?

Robert Sietsema​Between its ever-shrinking footprint and the boutique owners whose delicate sensibilities are offended between the San Gennaro Festival, Little Italy has taken its fair share of knocks in recent years. And to add insult to injury, the neighborhood's merchants are saying that Ea ... More >>

Bee Swarm Takes Over Mailbox at Mulberry and Grand Streets

Today in things that are terrifying, here is a photo taken by @cookielaz, or Kyle Lazarus, who mentions (sarcastically) that this bee-covered mailbox in New York City is "totally safe." DNA Info has more on the swarm, which led the NYPD to close down the sidewalk for several hours today until the be ... More >>

Open and Closed: Say Hello to Brushstroke, Goodbye to Wai? Café

Restaurants and bars, they come and they go. Here are a few making their debuts and bowing out this week. The East Village's Wai? Café has closed and will be replaced by Sa Aming Nayon, serving "authentic Filipino cuisine." [EV Grieve] Havana Central is closing its Union Square location as part o ... More >>

Little Italy is Dead, Long Live Chinatown

​"Little Italy is becoming Littler Italy," the New York Times declares in today's paper, noting that census results released in December count not one person living in the New York City neighborhood as a native of Italy. This time around, only 5 percent of residents in the 24-square-blocks ide ... More >>

Girl Scout Cookies Going Extinct; Little Italy Is Back

​Padma Lakshmi's custody battle with baby-daddy Adam Dell is heating up as Dell reveals the Top Chef mom had hoped billionaire Teddy Forstmann was Krishna's biological father. [NY Post] Gabriel Stulman of Joseph Leonard, Jeffrey's Grocery, and now Fedora has created not only a series of popul ... More >>

Dixie is So Gay: Surprising Census Info About Gay Parents in the South

The Times has a great piece today that defies a lot of the common stereotypes of what it means to be gay in America. Since 1990, the Census has been a gold mine of information about LGBT couples for creative demographers. Despite the lack of any question about sexual orientation (hence, no info on s ... More >>

Go Go Tales A Sweet Strip Tease

Open & Closed: Say Hello to Danji; Goodbye to Benito's One Restaurant

Restaurants and bars, they come and they go. Here are a few making their debuts and bowing out this week. Benito's One Restaurant has been evicted from its Little Italy space and has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, with some $481,000 in liabilities. [Crain's] La Bonne Bouffe in the East Village ha ... More >>

Damien Brassel No Longer Cooking Knife Fork Meals at Percy's Tavern; Harris Mayer-Selinger Adds More Peru to Bar Paya

​Chef Damien Brassel of now-defunct Knife Fork will no longer be doing Knife Fork dinners out of Percy's Tavern. [Eater] Top Chef alum Cynthia Sestito will be cooking a special Italian holiday menu at Café Napoli in Little Italy on Saturday. [Grub Street] David Chang has been active on ... More >>

Fiji Water to Pull Out of Fiji; Bees in Red Hook Caught Red-Bodied

​Fiji Water is shutting down its operations on the island due to a tax hike imposed by Fiji's government. The company is owned by billionaire investors Lynda Resnick and Stewart Resnick, who also own POM Wonderful. [Wall Street Journal] Burger King's monthlong "King of the Road" bus tour has ... More >>

Fight Night at San Gennaro: Sausage Fest Turns into Chair-Throwing Madness! (Video)

​The San Gennaro Festival has a bad reputation as just another reason for aggressive con-game carnies to hustle you next to the same booths serving funnel cakes, lemonade, and sausages that appear at every other street festival in New York City (unless, of course, you find the right ones). Wel ... More >>

The Street Food of the 2010 San Gennaro Festival, NYC -- A Visitor's Guide

​Patron saint of Naples, San Gennaro casts his eyes heavenward, in despair over the preponderance of fried food at his festival. San Gennaro (English: Saint Januarius) is the patron saint of Naples, Italy, a Catholic bishop who was martyred in the Diocletianic Persecution of 305. The festival ... More >>

Are Bugs the New Sushi?; McDonald's Pissed at Anti-Burger Ad

​Bug lovers are pushing entomophagy (the eating of insects) as a high-protein, low-fat, cheap, environmentally sustainable, and trendy new diet. [Wall Street Journal] The owners of Torrisi Italian Specialties are embracing Chinatown's encroachment on Little Italy this San Gennaro with special ... More >>

Battle of the Fresh Mozzarellas: Eataly v. Di Palo's

Eataly's mozzarella.​ Among the many, many exhaustively authentic Italian food products that Eataly sells is fresh mozzarella. This mozzarella, of course, is not just any mozzarella: it's made right in front of your face, by a staff member who hand-stretches the fresh curds into perfect globe ... More >>

Empire of the Bun at Golden Steamer and Baohaus

Steaming is a gas at two bao specialists

Teen Stars Break Up Over Eating Habits; Food Trucks Bring the South to Brooklyn

​Torrisi Italian Specialties opens today in Little Italy selling Italian foods made in America. Owners Richard Torrisi and Mario Carbone, both chefs, cure their own anchovies and olives, and will start offering prix-fixe dinners in February. [NY Times] Teen stars Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautn ... More >>

Things to do this weekend for (mostly) free

​East Meets West Holiday Parade Little Italy and Chinatown Merchants Associations are sponsoring a parade from Mulberry to Mott Street, featuring marching bands, martial artists and acrobats, Italian American singers and Lion and Dragon Dance troupes.

Letters

Leave the Gun, Take the Marinara

Umbertos moves its tasty crustaceans and shellfish to the Bronx

A True New Yawk Saga

The Meaning of Mulberry

Italian festival proves if you're south of Canal for dinner, stick with Chinatown

Can't Stand the Heat? Get it Out of the Kitchen

How to make dinner without turning on the stove

You Like Fresh Clams?

A market tour of the other Little Italy

Scorsese Boxed Set Captures '70s Career From Boxcar to Bull

Remote Patrol

Viva China!: A Gateway to Mexico on the Lower East Side

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

Top 100 Italian Restaurants

Listings

Another Little Italy

Close-up on Chinatown

Nolita Complex

The $100 Challenge

Outside Chance

Meet the Thinkers Who'd Help Uncle Sam—If Only He'd Bring Them In

Letters

Between Mott and Mulberry

Little Italy Has Official Edge in Neighborhood Turf War

NY Mirror

Dressing Like It's 1999

The Year in Frock