#28 So, what is the hype about NYC's Little Italy?

Welcome to Little Italy sign at Mulberry and Broome Streets intersection.

    

    The quick answer to that question is food - Italian cuisines and desserts. Have you tried different flavors of bruschetta, gnocchi, ravioli, and linguine? How about cannoli, pignoli, gelato, and torrone? If you want to try authentic Italian food other than the familiar spaghetti, meatball, pizza, and salad, go to Little Italy. They have rows and rows of ristoranti Italiano (Italian restaurants) and dessert stores. If you need to know what to order, restaurants display menus with a list of ingredients at their entrances. There are also standby receptionists waiting to answer your questions. Here are three things you need to experience when visiting Little Italy. 

Eat at one of the ristoranti Italiano.

    There are so many restaurants to choose from. We tried Benito One's linguine seafood made of white clam sauce, mussels, and calamari. A linguine is a thin, long, and flat pasta usually added to other ingredients and sauces like alfredo or tomato. We also ate at Gelso and Grand, where we ordered a salad, pizza, and bruschetta. We loved their grilled trevisano salad made of pear, honey pecans, arugula, and whipped goat cheese. The combined sweet, bitter, creamy, and nutty flavors enlivened our taste buds. Their mortadella bruschetta was also delectable! It was made of bruschetta (grilled bread rubbed with aromatic oils and herbs) topped with mortadella (Italian pork sausage), ricotta (a type of cheese), balsamic, and taralli (Italian cracker).

Taste the different desserts at Ferrara.

    Your visit to Little Italy is only complete with going to Ferrara for desserts. Ferrara is as the oldest bakery and cafe in the neighborhood for Italian desserts such as gelato, pignoli, cannoli, terrone (nougat), fruit tarts, and more. Two of our favorites are pignoli (pine nuts) and cannoli. Their pignoli (singular pignolo) are soft, chewy almond cookies covered with pine nuts. It is the most delicious cookie we have tasted so far. Their cannoli (singular cannolo, meaning "little tube") are also the best in the area, especially the original flavor. Their shells are soft and chewy, and their ricotta fillings are not too sweet. They also have different gelato flavors like coconut, pistachio, and mango.

Take home some pasta and sauces from Piemonte.

    If you love ravioli, a pasta dough with filling, go to Piemonte Ravioli. We loved their cheese and spinach-filled ravioli with organic herbs and marinara. Also, their ravioli filled with lobster and smothered over with vodka cream sauce was tasty. Try Piemonte if you are craving pasta shells such as ravioli, tortellini, and gnocchi filled with different flavors.

    Local and international tourists go to Little Italy for different reasons. Some want to know more about its history. There is always a group tour whenever we go there. Others attend the annual San Gennaro Festival every September. However, we observed most people go there to savor Italian cuisine, desserts, and beverages.