Who else grew up eating taralles? Those addictive dough rings, speckled with fennel seeds or hot pepper flakes that in New Jersey are boiled first, then baked (like bagels!), or in New York, just baked. Sure, the proper Italian plural would be taralli, but these are Italian-American, so it's okay to add an s on the end.

Rose & Joe's in Astoria makes some of my favorites in New York, and for a nice price too. $4.75 per pound. You can mix the fennel [R] and the hot pepper flake[L] too.


Rose & Joe's Italian Bakery
22-40 31st Street
Astoria, Queens
718.721.9422

I photographed this pizza at the Atlantic Antic last October.
The pizza at Brooklyn Flea looked just like this and was priced the same: $8.
Is it the same vendor?

Mobile brick oven pizza at the Atlantic Antic last October. Again, same oven.
Could there be 2 mobile pizza operations? Hey, it's Brooklyn.
I 'm sure there is up to 10 mobile pizza operations.

The Brooklyn Flea was bigger and better than ever this past Saturday, with more food vendors than I could have shook a stick at. Why do we only have one stomach? It isn't fair. The greatest new addition, in my humble opinion, is the mobile brick oven pizza by Pizza Moto. Just $8 for a pizza built for two. I thought it was the same vendor as in the Atlantic Antic last year, but apparently that was Lunetta. I will have to do more research. In the meantime, get thee to the Brooklyn Flea. Same location as last year. (Fort Greene; G to Clinton/Washington) This year, Saturdays. (Last year, Sundays.)

Golosi Artisan Pizza and Gelato, opened in the former Yolato space
on Park Avenue, just below Grand Central

The 'pizza by the inch' looks pretty darn appetizing.

I read on Midtown Lunch Thursday (just a bit too late for lunch, too bad) that there was a pizza with free gelato deal to be had in Midtown just below Grand Central. And then I read:

The Yolato looking signs are still up, so it probably is the same gelato as before (but I can’t say that for sure).

What? Yolato is gone? My favorite midtown yogurt or gelato or whatever it is place is gone? So I high-tailed it over to the new Golosi Artisan Pizza and Gelato place after work to see for myself. Well, thankfully, the gelato display is exactly the same as before. Phew. As for the pizza, I too cannot be the judge, because I haven't tried it yet. It certainly looked tasty. I would try it if they would extend the free gelato with 3" pizza purchase. But alas, that offer was only for their opening day, which sadly, I missed.


Golosi
Grand Central
125 Park Ave (41st & 42nd Street)
New York, NY 10017
212.922.1169 (same phone as before)


Related Post:
Yolato!


***
Update, 4.23.09
Read in April 16-23 TimeOut: Golosi's pizza crust is definitely not vegetarian. I am glad I didn't sample it. Should they label the pizza clearly that it is made with rendered pork fat??? I am officially grossed out. I also read that Golosi translates to "gluttons." Well that is a curious name for an eatery.

Luckily, the gelato display has remained exactly the same. Phew.
That was a close call.
Funny, I took almost the same picture last year.

The new Golosi, with the old Yolato gelato display.
A smart move on their part.

This post is featured on Midtown Lunch for April 14, 2009

At Vinny Vincenz, the aromas are heavenly.

I live in New York for the pizza. And the bagels. And the art. Probably in the reverse order. But for the sake of this post, I live in New York for the pizza. And not just for the pizza. For the mobile pizza. I mean, pizza from a truck! It doesn't get better than this.

Check out Vinny Vincenz heavenly slices at 14th and Union Square West (near the Diesel store). Contact Vinny Vincenz for the exact schedule. A Sicilian slice is around $2.50.

La Baguette Cafe on 40th & Broadway turns it out
with an awning and eco-friendly hanging bulbs. How could you eat anywhere else?

I confess to having Olympic fever. Yesterday I ate three breakfasts. When I heard the news about Michael Phelps and his three egg sandwiches, I felt somehow inspired. Now there was a training regime I could get behind. And it was my day to go to the pool. Perfect.

My first breakfast was at home, a modest one. A half a piece of multi-grain bread, toasted with peanut butter, and a small iced coffee. My second was in transit, a cheese muffin and iced coffee from Le Pain Quotidien. They now know my order, so I can't very well let her down and not get the cheese muffin. My third, a two-egg sandwich, no cheese, from the Halal cart* on 40th and Broadway* for only $1.50 by the way, but today he indicated that I was getting a special price.

I got to the pool at 6:30pm. I thought I had packed my full-body high-tech Speedo suit with the stars all over it, but I opened my bag to find my light blue flowered one instead. With the ineffectual suit, my time for the 200 meter Free was 4:15. Michael Phelps' time: 1:42.96. I don't know what conclusions I can draw from this. Other than I should probably eat more egg sandwiches.


*a different Halal cart from my falafel guy on 39th and Broadway, but I imagine they know each other for some reason.

Czech Street Festival, NYC
Yes I am aware that this is a lousy picture.
No I don't know those people.

The Fall Festival in Philadelphia. One of the restaurant tents.

The crowd on S 13th at the Philadelphia street fair

My husband and I are suckers for a good street fair. We'll go to any one and browse (and find the popcorn sample guy). We found two street fairs in Philadelphia. One seemed to only serve cheese steaks. We left. Another, on S 13th and Sansom that I mentioned, was in the shape of a giant plus sign, which was not optimum for crowd flow, and was really just a giant outdoor patio where restaurants put up tents in front of their establishments and served drinks mainly. Here is a blurb about the Philly Fall Festival, with a great graphic.

I think I like the New York Street fairs better. We wandered up to the Czech Street fair on 83rd between Madison and Park on Saturday, which was filled with not unsimilar food to our Polish neighborhood restaurants, and then gradually wandered our way down Lex to pick up still more Click Clack containers at The Container Store on 58th. What we found in between those two points was pretty fabulous, but I will describe more about that later. Here, a gratuitously visual post: my tales of three street fairs in two cities.

The phamous Philly cheese steak.
Yes I was a tourist and took a picture.
So what, I was a tourist.

A flattened Sumo wrestler costume at the Fall Festival, Philadelphia
Inexplicable, yet amusing.

The activated Sumo wrestler costume.
As I was photographing this event, a man asked me
how much it cost and did he have a partner and what was
this thing anyway. I stared back blankly. I don't know.
Oh I thought you knew him, he said. No I don't.
I would have said, no I am a blogger, but I don't
really engage people on the street anymore since I've lived in New York.
Philly is strange. People make eye contact and talk to you there.
I am not used to that anymore.

We went to the Seventh Heaven Street Fair on 7th Ave in Park Slope for Father's Day. My husband took pictures of the crowd and made this compilation. I like it a lot. Had to show you too. Click on the pic to enlarge. The street fair went on for miles. We did a bit of the middle more towards Flatbush Avenue. It was a hot one yesterday but very much fun. The best booth: Divine Foods. Was that the name? I am not sure, but WOW! Food from heaven. And a great place to cool off with a white chocolate frappe, or a mocha frappe, or a vanilla latte frappe was Cocoa Bar.

My recommendation for this weekend's dinner and a movie: tonight, Sunday or Monday, go see Dreaming Lhasa as part of the International Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theatre, Lincoln Center. Before the film, have a nice balanced dinner at the Ayurveda Cafe. Each day there is a special pre-set healthy menu consisting of an appetizer, assorted chutneys, 2 vegetable entrees, bread, lentils, basmati or brown rice, salad, raita and dessert all served on a thali. And it is all vegetarian. You will get up from the table feeling energized! And at the end of the meal you get to reach into a carved box and choose a concept to ponder. Here were two of mine.



Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center
165 W 65th St (btwn Broadway & Amsterdam)
212.875.5600

Ayurveda Cafe
706 Amsterdam Ave (at 94th St)
212.932.2400

I think I found I good link for all your Street Fair needs in NYC. Check out this listing by month and day. Today is the Romanian Festival on Water St between Broad and Fulton. We're going! And don't miss the great 9th Ave Food Festival this year. It is on May 20 & 21, on 9th Ave between 37th - 57th Streets.