The Feast of San Gennaro is happening now through Sunday, Sept. 27. While the number of stands in the festival can feel overwhelming, here are five true Italian-American businesses that showcase Italian culture to visitors.
Little Italy has been around since Italians settled in the region after the mass Italian immigration of the 1880s. Modern Italian-American history began then, and their descendants carry on the tradition today.
While this history may be hard to trace, Raymond Guarini, founder of the Italian Enclaves Historical Society, has begun his own efforts to preserve memory through what he calls an “online database non-profit organization that documents each and every Italian neighborhood in North America.”
Guarini said of San Gennaro, “It is ultimately a crossroads of heritage and faith and appreciation for being American while also maintaining your heritage and your pride of your Italian roots.” His deep understanding of Italian society guided this report.
Di Palo’s Fine Foods
Di Palo’s in Little Italy.Photo by Dylan Christie
Di Palo’s sells authentic Italian products, and it has done so for over 100 years. Its offerings include a variety of cheeses, cured meats, olive oil, and pastas. The latteria also produces fresh dairy products, including its signature ricotta and mozzarella.
For Lou Di Palo, co-owner of Di Palo’s, celebrating 100 years of San Gennaro goes beyond a block party; it represents a tradition carried on since his great-grandfather Sabino Di Palo founded the establishment.
Lou Di Palo explains, “If you know Di Palo’s, you know that five generations serving five and six generation of customers. It’s not uncommon to come in here and speak to people whose grandparents and great-grandparents shopped at Di Palo’s.”
Lou Di Palo (on right), his brother, and niecePhoto by Dylan Christie
After the 1880s, when his great-grandparents immigrated, Italians had separate ethnic communities on each street. He recounts that Mott Street was mostly occupied by immigrants from Basilicata, like Di Palo’s family. Elizabeth Street was primarily Sicilians, and Mulberry Street was mostly Neapolitan.
The “segregation” stemmed not only from different customs but largely from the language barrier. Each region spoke a different dialect. Hence, Di Palo attests that “the communities really did not become a Little Italy community until the first generation born here when they went to school here, and they started to have friends from the different parts of the areas of Italy.”
Above all, the San Gennaro Feast played and plays a key role—what was originally a local block party now, according to Lou Di Palo, “is a testament of what the Italian immigrants brought over to this country.”
Mulberry Street Bar
Mulberry Street Bar Photo by Dylan Christie
Mulberry Street Bar is a classic not only for the Little Italy residents but also for Hollywood. Having served as a filming location for “The Sopranos,” “Donny Brasco,” “The Godfather III,” and more, this establishment has helped create the representation of Italian-Americans.
However, behind the big screens is a tight-knit family running this business. As Joe Maschi, a family member of owner Joe Tuzzino, took the time to explain, “My parents, everybody in my generation’s parents, our families have been friends and family for generations and generations. This is a meeting spot, and it’s one of the few still standing.”
Apart from alcohol, Mulberry Street Bar also offers Italian food and hand-rolled, one-of-a-kind cigars. They offer cigars in flavors like vanilla and cappuccino, in both light and dark varieties, and it is one of the few places you can get a two-toned wrapped cigar.
This San Gennaro, the bar invites attendees to try their cigars, tortellini, pizza, and more authentic Italian dishes. Still, Maschi’s message is clear: “San Gennaro is the glue that brings everybody together for sure—” “Italians are just so big on family. We like to invite people to learn about that”.
E. Rossi & Company
Ernest Rossi of E. Rossi & Company Photo by Dylan Christie
Founded by Ernesto Rossi 116 years ago and now run by his grandson Ernest Rossi, this store is a true institution of Little Italy.
While Di Palo’s brings you the food, E.Rossi brings you the trinkets. You can find just about anything. From tea sets to aprons, shirts, Neapolitan playing cards, moka pots, magnets, pendants, and key chains, the list is endless.
Above all, what Italians have been going there for the most is also Rossi’s favorite thing to sell. Religious goods. If you need any sort of religious statue, prayer, card, or help in general, Rossi will tell you which statue to buy and whom to pray to.
Rossi says, “If someone comes in and they may ask me, they have a family member who hasn’t been able to become pregnant, and I would say ok and I’d get them a card of Saint Gerard, and they would pray to Saint Gerard to become pregnant. Or someone would lose something, and I would tell them to pray to Saint Anthony for lost and found.”
If you are looking for housewares, anything Italian, or religious help from Ernest, like many have been doing in Little Italy for generations, stop by 193 Grand St.
Da Nico
Frank and Nicky Criscitelli of Da NicoPhoto by Dylan Christie
Nicky Criscitelli and his mother, Annette, founded Da Nico 33 years ago. Trying to keep the place as authentic to his roots as possible, he says even the bricks from the pizza oven came from his grandmother’s old oven across the street.
Since then, the restaurant has been a home for Criscitelli’s family. Despite not living in Little Italy anymore, Criscitelli clarifies, “My sons were born here, baptized here, were in this neighborhood; they’re from this neighborhood their whole lives.”
For Frank Criscitelli, Nicky Criscitelli’s son, San Gennaro represents a tradition: “Neighborhoods change, and things change, but this feast has been the same for as long as I can remember. I’m 27, so the 27 feasts I’ve been around, everything is the same, and I plan on being here for as long as I’m alive, so I was born here, and I’m gonna die here.”
Some of Da Nico’s signatures are the pizza from the brick oven, veal chops, lobsters, rack of lamb, and, according to Criscitelli, “just about anything with Italian background we have it!”
Ferrara Bakery & Cafe
Ferrara BakeryPhoto by Dylan Christie
The bakery was founded over 134 years ago and has desserts that taste authentically Italian.
Ernest Lepore, executive chef and co-owner, runs this business with his family. It has been a family business for over a century, and today they even expect each new generation to buy shares of the store to keep the tradition in the neighborhood.
The family is from Napoli, one of San Gennaro’s alleged birthplaces. For them, the festival honoring San Gennaro is both an homage and a great honor.
Lepore says about his grandmother, “The way she could always say I love you was in food, couldn’t come out of her lips, but she was so caring when she cooked.” This love language is the tradition Ferrara Bakery brings to the Feast and to Little Italy year-round.
All these businesses have withstood the test of time. As Lower Manhattan becomes more gentrified, not all original Italian families can afford to live in their historic neighborhood. Still, authentic businesses remain and carry their Italian-American legacy.
For more details on the feast, amNY’s preview of the Feast of San Gennaro offers a look into history and current attractions.
Ernest Lepore Photo by Dylan Christie
