When I decided to eat at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy, I chose it over the other restaurant selections because I thought it would be a nice intimate setting.
I was having dinner with a college friend and was hoping to catch up uninterrupted.
Unbeknownst to us, a full-fledged Italian festival was going on so that would not be the case.
We didn’t know it at the time, but the Feast of San Genarro is an annual festival that lasts two week. It was brought to the states from Italian Immigrants and celebrates the Saint of Naples. This is the 88th celebration since it started in 1996.
We learned that from the Italian-American couple that sat beside us just as we were about to leave. They were having date night and this was the first time they had been to the festival in years.
That was due largely to the fact that they lived in the neighborhood that the festival was held for eight years. And as the woman put it, “the non-stop smell of sausages and peppers and fried dough for two-weeks straight made me sick to my stomach,” as she imitated a gagging motion.
To me, the scents that filled the air were aromatic.
In addition to the sweet smell of sausage and peppers, at different areas, I could smell marinara sauce and grated cheese in the air.
The fried dough that the woman referred to included funnel cakes, fried Oreos, Snickers, Kit Kats and Reeses.
The music selections were fitting with entertainers singling classics like “Mambo Italiano” and “That’s Amoré.” A group of horn players and an accordion player also swooned festival-goers with what sound like love songs.
Hundreds of vendors from all backgrounds filled the streets selling everything from food, snacks, jewelry, beauty products, sun glasses, chinaware, marble figurines and so much more.
It was everything (and nothing) like I had expected Little Italy to be and I am already excited about going to next year’s celebration.
