Though the area keeps evolving, the mealsand the storiesremain as delicious as ever.
Ive come for the eponymous delicacyfresh mozzarella.
He gathers the molten cheese into plump orbs while Carlo twists shorter lengths into bite-size knots.
Bluepoint oysters at Randazzo’s Seafood.Clay Williams
One by one Carlo drops these bocconcini into a sink full of running water.
He hands one to me and I take a bite.
Its warm and salty and milky.
Cavatelli at Borgatti’s.Clay Williams
Clay Williams
For me, the Belmont neighborhood in the Bronx is todays trueLittle Italy.
Businesses that our parents, our grandparents, and in some cases our great-grandparents, opened.
Theres just a sort of organic authenticity that you cant make up.
Olives by the pound at Teitel Brothers grocery.Clay Williams
I grew up visiting Arthur Avenue.
It was one of my grandfathers favorite places.
Now I make my own monthly pilgrimages to Belmont from my home in Westchester County, New York.
Dave Greco of Mike’s Deli.Clay Williams
A mosaic Star of David has marked the stores threshold since the Depression.
The star was his statement.
He wanted people to know who he was.
Inside, the trove continues.
You want the rinds?
I nod, thinking of the rich umami theyll add to my white-bean and escarole soup.
He puts the waxy shards into a bag and adds it to my pile.
When it opened in 1940, the market housed 117 vendors.
Today, though the bazaar houses only eight merchants, the atmosphere remains vibrant.
Mike died in 2019, but the younger Greco keeps his spirit alive.
Were Little Italy because the Italian heart and soul and tradition still lives here.
