The Arthur Avenue Cookbook: Recipes and Memories from the Real Little Italy [Hardcover]

Just like Arthur Avenue, this book is the real deal. It offers up a collection of authentic Italian-American recipes that are perfect for everyday meals and informal entertaining. It sits on my shelf between Patricia Wells and Marcella, having quickly become one of those few cookbooks that I use all the time. The recipes are well-crafted and easy to follow, the dishes unfussy and delicious. It is also a beautifully designed book that captures the flavor and history of Arthur Avenue.

"This is your world, I'm just temporary." So said the waiter at Mario's on Saturday night, misquoting the old line about Sinatra ("It's Frank's world, we're just living in it") as we settled in to a corner booth. We were with two four-and-a-half year-old girls who were capable of timing out at any moment. Not a promising group. Then we remembered: Mario's is family-friendly. And our guilt at taking up valuable table space on a Saturday night melted quickly away.

But then, we weren't in New York City.

There is a Little Italy in Manhattan, and we have been there. So have you, if you've ever been a tourist in New York and have already crossed Times Square off your list. That Little Italy is noisy and friendly and mildly amusing, and if you are lucky enough to pick a restaurant that doesn't get its red sauce from some central pipeline, you can get a decent meal there.

But it doesn't compare to Arthur Avenue.

Arthur Avenue is in the Bronx, near Fordham University and the Zoo. For a Manhattanite, it's a field trip that not many undertake. For the neighborhood's shopkeepers and restaurateurs, it's home --- probably for three generations. And that makes all the difference.

They filmed scenes from "The Godfather" on Arthur Avenue. More recently, "The Sopranos" dropped by. George Bush, Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki shared a pizza here. It's time travel to come to Arthur Avenue: waiters in tuxedos, valet parking and presents --- like "silver" bracelets --- for the kiddies.

Ann Volkwein visited the mom-and-pop shops. She ate in the restaurants. And she talked to everyone. Her book is essentially a profile of a small town in Southern Italy, where businesses stay in families and you look out for your neighbor and there's no better reason to get together than a meal.

Volkwein's profiles, accompanied by Vegar Abelsnes's evocative photgraphs, are a delight; you'll meet great characters. More to the point, you'll learn about the restaurants and the shops so, when you visit, you can have a personal exchange.

But most to the point: the recipes. This is Southern Italian cooking, It lacks the "refinement" of Northern cuisine. And although there are lovely photos of vegetables and a side order of eggplant at any restaurant here will be the size of a flying saucer, you won't find many vegetable recipes in these pages. The buzz words are "hearty" and "authentic" and "carbohydrates."

What recipe to serve up? What else than meat sauce? But imagine it served by a waiter who is not also an actor, a waiter who's going to be wearing that tuxedo for decades. Enjoy!

Having worked in the Bronx for many years, I always knew where the REAL Little Italy was located - on Arthur Avenue. The pictures and stories of the neighborhood in this delightful book bring back wonderful memories of a place that still serves the best Italian food in NYC. The book was given to me as a gift and I have begun working my way through the recipes. All are delightful and not difficult to follow although take longer than some of the trendy cookbooks that purport to share 'geniune' Italian fare. These are not always simple recipes, but always generate wonderful meals. For me taste is everything, so if I have to take a little more time and dirty a few more pots, it's worth it to have that truly geniune Arthur Avenue taste. Brava, brava, Ann!