Dominick's on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, New York

Grandmotherless Bronx - New York City entry #5

When I was growing up in Manhattan, visiting the Bronx was a family matter. Yes, I would go to Yankee Stadium to sneak into box seats when the ushers weren’t looking. Yes, I went to high school in Riverdale at a rather chichi private school (since it was all-male, perhaps hee-hee is more apt).

But the reason to visit the Bronx was to see my grandmothers, one on the Grand Concourse and one on Jerome Avenue. My father, the son of my granny on Jerome, used to describe the attacks of the Italian kids across the street on the guiltless and guileless Jewish youth, circa 1927. The accounts provided a frisson of danger, even ten-year old Jews were at risk from childhood-fascists. Yet, while he narrated his strongly-felt childhood traumas, I suspected that there was more subtle class politics involved than his memories of innocence and attack suggested. (In Manhattan the strict Italian-Jewish culinary boundary was Canal Street; Little Italy to the north, Chinatown to the south).

Given the frequency with which we visited the Bronx, I am abashed to admit that not only did I never visit Arthur Avenue, but I never heard of it, despite its proximity to Fordham Road on which I spent so much time. Such was ethnic boundaries prior to immigration reform.

Eventually other ethnic transitions made their presence felt, and while we value the culinary treasures left in their wake, my grandmothers - and their yiddishe generation - left their urban redoubts to more comforting locales. Age multiplies fear.

This Sunday, after more than half a century, I visited Arthur Avenue, today less a neighborhood than a thematic shopping mall, unlike what it would have been in 1927 or even 1957.

While there are many restaurants on Arthur Avenue, Dominick’s has a special appeal. The restaurant has the feel of a church rec room with plastic paneling, long wooden tables, covered with long plastic tablecloths. Today was a particularly busy Sunday; along the street (on September 11th, no less) the neighbors were celebrating the 8th Annual Ferragosto festival, a lively, but lesser version of Little Italy’s feast of San Gennaro.

I was seated with two attractive women, returning to the old neighborhood, talking about family, friends, and, because this is New York, real estate. Each was surely blessed as grandma by a troop of fortunate moppets. One had close ties with Dominick’s staff (there was a fair amount of hugging of which I was not included), and so we received superior service on this busy afternoon.

Myra Alperson in her useful Nosh New York describes visiting Dominick’s, asking if they had anything “light” for lunch. She received the marvelous deadpan New York reply, “water.” She adds, seemingly without irony, “I went elsewhere.” I can imagine my mom doing the same. But what better advertisement could there be. Dominick’s does not have a menu, and one negotiates with the waiter as to what he thinks you might like and when the bill comes you learn what the traffic might bear. My large lunch (salad, veal, pasta, baked clams, and wine - no dessert was served) came to $41.00, but I have no idea if I received a discount thanks to my tablemates or whether this was more injustice to the Jews.

Dominick’s food is an experience, not a text. We began with bread as clean and thick as fresh Italian bread should be (with just a hint of salt). The salad was a mix of iceberg, romaine, tomato, olives, and onion in an excess of good olive oil and vinegar (not that northern chichi Balsamic stuff either). The pasta (a small rigatoni, whose name I don’t know, but not the elbows I had at grandma’s) was cooked as properly al dente in a bath of very tomato sauce. The veal parmigiano was layered with some fine mozzarella. If this calf was never fed milk, it gave its painful life for a happy diner. The bread coating on the clams was a bit heavy by downtown standards, but they were plump and juicy and the garlicky sauce could not have had more butter.

As I waddled out, I decided to make the walk that I never had as a teen, up the hill from Belmont. The walk wasn’t long - and today offers a range of restaurants inconceivable a half-century ago. Within about a quarter-hour I was at Fordham and the Grand Concourse. Fifteen minutes and fifty years to reach the old neighborhood.

Dominick’s
2335 Arthur Avenue
Bronx, New York
718-733-2807 (closed Tuesday)

Dominick’s does not have a menu, and one negotiates with the waiter as to what he thinks you might like and when the bill comes you learn what the traffic might bear.

GAF,

I've always disliked receiving a bill where I feel they sized me up rather than consulted a price list.

I do enjoy the thought of negotiating your dinner, how does that really work? Does he ask you what your level of appetite may be? Who suggests what to eat? While the sky may be the limit, surely he is limited by what the kitchen can offer. I'd be interested in a feel for how this conversation went.

Thanks!

Regards,

Negotiating was a bit strong. He asked me what I would like and I said salad, veal, and pasta (and later clams), and he said "How about . . ." and I said "That sounds great . . . " No mention of prices, etc. Dominick's serves a range of dishes, they just don't have a menu or price list.

Fortunately the prices are pretty reasonable (I think Jim Leff suggests that you wear your scruffiest outfit, so that the waiter will take pity on you).

Cathy2 wrote:

Dominick’s does not have a menu, and one negotiates with the waiter as to what he thinks you might like and when the bill comes you learn what the traffic might bear.

GAF,

I've always disliked receiving a bill where I feel they sized me up rather than consulted a price list.

I do enjoy the thought of negotiating your dinner, how does that really work? Does he ask you what your level of appetite may be? Who suggests what to eat? While the sky may be the limit, surely he is limited by what the kitchen can offer. I'd be interested in a feel for how this conversation went.

Thanks!

Regards,

This reminds me of my recent experiene (kinda) with JiLS at the serbian place in Milwaukee. It seemed like 1/2 the stuff that came to our table we did not order, and when the bill came, we had no idea what it was or what was what. I've been meaning to report in full on this dinner, and hopefully I will, but for right now, I would say, I did not (at all) enjoy this process.

Rob

I was at Dominick's on Saturday night, and I can't say that I'd be in a hurry to return. We got there early, shortly after the Yankees game, around 5ish, to put our name on the list; we were given #41, and they were serving #6. It took about 2 hours for us to be seated. The first hour and a half or so went pretty quickly, we visited the markets on Arthur Avenue, had an appetizer of freshly shucked oysters at a nearby fishmonger, had a beer at a nearby Albanian bar. By now, we were pretty restless and waited outside of Dominick's for another half hour.

We finally get seated, and I am anxious to order. The food from the nearby patrons look great. However, when our waiter comes to make our dining suggestions, we're a little disappointed. The majority of the menu that is suggested to us is pretty straightforward Italian American, red sauce and mozzarella. We ask for a few different meat and/or fish items and finally order (there are four of us): baked artichoke, house salad, linguini with white clam sauce, chicken breast stuffed with proscuitto and mozarella, lemon chicken, pork chops with cherry peppers. I can't say that anything was outstanding. Although the linguini was cooked to a perfect 'al dente', the linguini with clam sauce was a little like plain pasta with a can of canned clams dumped over the top. Neither of the chicken dishes stood out either, the lemon chicken was smothered in a thick gloppy sauce, without much fresh lemon or herb flavorings. The pork chops were probably the best entree at our table.

After we ordered, we did see a few items served to other tables that were not mentioned to us. Perhaps we didn't build up enough of a rapport with our server or ask enough questions, or because we weren't neighborhood regulars, but we didn't feel we had the opportunity to take full advantage of what the kitchen had to offer.

The cost was very reasonable. In addition to our meal, we had a few glasses of wine. Our final bill was $89, but we're not sure what we paid for.

We did enjoy the atmosphere at Dominick's and enjoyed spending some time on Arthur Avenue, but I was not impressed by the food at Dominicks. It was definitely not worth the two hour wait.

Vital Information wrote:This reminds me of my recent experiene (kinda) with JiLS at the serbian place in Milwaukee. It seemed like 1/2 the stuff that came to our table we did not order, and when the bill came, we had no idea what it was or what was what. I've been meaning to report in full on this dinner, and hopefully I will, but for right now, I would say, I did not (at all) enjoy this process.

Rob

Yeah, that was an odd experience. The old guy who kept schmoozing us, the semi-competent musicians (including the Andy Warhol lookalike on guitar); I felt a major vibe of being "made" by the staff. Especially the grey-haired gentleman who just had to keep intruding our space; he was definitely working an angle, and ultimately it was he that was more acute and we who were more obtuse. Ah, well ... he didn't eat a kringle that morning or see Will Smith and family in a bookstore that afternoon, either; sometimes it's O.K. to get made -- although I won't be rushing back.

Since there are so few threads on Arthur Avenue, I asked for (and received) GAF's permission to hijack this thread and post a few pictures of bread and pastry shop options on Arthur Avenue. I visited there on a recent Sunday afternoon with my daughter. While most of the merchants were closed, the pastry and bread shops remained open for the families out for Sunday dinner or afternoon pastry and gelato. We took that as a challenge to find the best sfogliatelle in the neighborhood.



Egidio's (since 1912) offered a wide selection of good looking pastries, including these from their window display. (Notice the monster pastry-cream-filled baba au rhum on the top shelf):





Hard to believe it, but we resisted these to try the mini-sfogliatelle. While Egidio's sfogliatelle were very good, they came in second to those at DeLillo's Pastry Shop which were fresher and crisper, though no more beautiful. Here is the window display at DeLillo's, which was packed with customers even in the late hours of the afternoon.



Madonia Bakery is the real deal. If I had posted to the "Best Thing You've Eaten Lately" thread that week, it would have been the tiny sample of fennel seed- sesame seed bread with golden raisins that I tasted at Madonia bakery that afternoon. Here is Madonia's interior:



My daughter insisted that I take a picture of this bumper sticker, seen on the door of of Palombo Pastry Shop, where the pastries seem to be more mass-market, but there is a nice outdoor cafe for lingering:



For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the area, the Bronx Zoo is very nearby.

Egidio Pastry Shop
622 E 187th St, Bronx, NY
(718) 295-6077‎

DeLillo Pastry Shop
606 East 187th St.
Bronx, NY
(718)367-8198

Madonia Brothers Bakery
2348 Arthur Ave
Bronx, NY
(718) 295-5573‎

Palombo Pastry Shop
601 E 187th St
Bronx, NY
(718) 329-8800‎

I love Arthur Avenue and the Belmont District, especially with the ongoing demise of Little Italy in Manhattan. It's close to a couple of main highways, parking isn't too difficult, and it isn't touristy at all.

I made my own pilgrimage to Arthur Avenue when I was in New York last week. Here are some photos.


Cigar Rollers, Arthur Ave. Retail Market


Arthur Ave. Retail Market


Sandwiches at Mike's Deli (Mike's recently defeated Bobby Flay in an Eggplant Parmagiana throwdown)


Octopus at Café al Mercato


Peppers at Café al Mercato


Sausage and Peppers hero from Café al Mercato (this sandwich was one of my absolute finest eats on the trip. The bread had me flying.)


Cosenza's Fish Market, Bronx (while I didn't partake, they will shuck and serve you shellfish from these bins right on the street; they have a small rolling bar in front of the store.)


Crabs at Cosenza's Fish Market, Bronx


Vincent Meat Market, Bronx

See also The D Train to Cannoli Heaven

Mike's Deli
Arthur Avenue Meat Market
2344 Arthur Ave
Bronx, NY
(718) 295-5033‎

Café al Mercato
Arthur Avenue Retail Market
2344 Arthur Ave.
Bronx, NY
718-364-7681

Cosenza’s Fish Market
2354 Arthur Avenue
Bronx, NY
(718) 364-8510

Vincent’s Meat Market
2374 Arthur Avenue
Bronx, NY
(718) 295-9048

Wow, Joe! Terrific pictures. I'm so glad you got to Arthur Avenue. And your pictures give me lots to look forward to on the next visit--which may be this very week!

Any other photo essays from your NY trip?

OK, any thread that threatens with "thread hijack" and then indeed goes off-topic is one to be wary of, but I had something on my mind, and this thread and Joe's great pictures put it in perfect context. On Saturday, when the family and I were haggling over lunch, someone came up with the suggestion for Al's on Taylor. God, did I jump at that opportunity as a) I'm an Al's guy big time and b) I had wanted a place near the new Binny's anyways (see Mado post). I was trying to telepathically influence my family towards Manny's, but this idea worked indeed. And where my God am I going.

Well, Al's was about what Al's always is, although the portions are getting smaller and smaller. What shocked me, and where I am going, is the near dearth of customers at Al's on a nice Autumn Saturday. Later, we visited the deli, Conte Di Savoia. It had a whiff of that odor that makes these kinda places so enticing, but it was just a whiff, and indication of the incompleteness of this place. As someone who shops fairly often at places like Caputo's and Joseph's and Freddy's, I just found nothing worth buying here. Maybe if I lived close, I would frequent, but as someone with a other stores at my disposal, this one just did not thrill more than a whiff.

It's hard to make too many conclusions from two stores, but my impression from Saturday is that Taylor Street seems, I'm not sure downhill is the word, but horribly lacking in vibrancy. It is nothing like I imagine Arthur Avenue. I know on one hand, the old neighborhood cannot be duplicated. Yet, on the other hand, it seems like with so much building and such, a very robust University scene, that this area would be hopping. It is sad to see it not.

Vital Information wrote:It is nothing like I imagine Arthur Avenue.

It is true. Taylor Street is nothing like Arthur Avenue. After all, as the Times article stated, "the baked-good-to-resident ratio [on Arthur Ave] is one of the highest in the city."

It's really delightfully dense. Perhaps more comparable to Chicago's Cermak-Chinatown or some of the Polish stretches of Milwaukee Ave. It's been a while since I've been down to Taylor Street, but as I recall it, there are a lot more non-Italian businesses on each block than in the other mentioned neighborhoods.

I don't have any other true food "photo essays" from my trip, but I could probably put one or two things in the Random Food Pics thread. In the meantime, you can look at my Flickr set.

Arthur Avenue, while Italian, also benefits from recent immigration from the former Yugoslavia and Latin America--there is even an Albanian restaurant and grocery right next to Dominick's. I fully intend to check that out and report back.

BTW, Joe. Great Flickr set! You have an eye for composition--post your pics more often, please, OK?

Rumor has it that a lot of the Bronx Italian restaurants these days are Albanian owned, or at least managed.

I paid my first visit to Arthur Avenue two weeks ago following a visit to the Japanese Chrysanthemum show at the nearby Bronx Botanical Gardens. One warning to potential visitors is that by 4-4:30 on a Friday afternoon, the interior retail market was pretty much deserted and the vendors either closed or in the process of shutting down.. We had dinner at Mario’s, an old school restaurant on the other side of the street from Dominick’s. Fried calamari was fine and I had a large portion of gnocchi with a spinach and cream sauce which was very light but got a bit stodgy as it cooled. Service was slow given that there were few people in the restaurant at 5pm. Highlight of the visit was my girlfriend (whose birthday it was) swearing she recognized Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior on the Sopranos) chatting to some regulars at one of the cafes. I only saw the back of his head, but she might have been right.

I'm breaking my own rule and posting on a place I have only heard about, but it comes highly recommended by my brother's close friend and colleague who is a former chef de cuisine at Pasta Nostra in Norwalk, CT. A Sicilian Pizzeria and Restaurant in the Arthur Avenue area has the real thing--coalfire pizza and all. The place is called "089" or "Zero Otto Nove" the area code for Sicily. --oops! looks like Bloomberg might have been the source for this tip. No matter, it's been vetted by someone who knows his 'za, which adds a layer of interest for me.

089
2357 Arthur Ave.
Bronx, NY