05.01.06
Seeing Double
Sometimes it takes a guy from Jersey to teach you about your own neighborhood. Yesterday, during one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever experienced in New York, I was taking a happy family of day trippers to the PATH station at 9th Street and 6th Avenue for the journey back across the Hudson River. They’d spent the glorious, sunny day showing the kids the old neighborhood. The grandfather sat in the front seat with me, his son and three young grandchildren in the back.
The grandfather, I suppose still in nostalgia mode, decided to tell me about growing up on Carmine Street in the Village in the 40s and 50s, and how it used to be a great Italian neighborhood. I told him about my discovery of Euro Cafe out on Cypress Avenue last week, and I lamented that there is no place left where you could get hand-piped cannoli in his old hood anymore.
He was VERY quick to correct me. He told me Rocco’s still bakes their own shells and hand-pipes their ricotta. I was stunned. I told him I’d just been to Bruno, the Italian pastry shop that shares a wall with Rocco’s, and they most certainly do not make their cannoli to order.
(The cannoli at Bruno sit neglected in the case)
I had, wrongly, assumed that the neighboring shop did likewise.
(Bruno and Rocco’s have shared a wall for generations)
I live around the corner from the twin pastry shops, and I can sometimes smell baking sweets through my courtyard window. So as soon as I got home today, I wandered past Bruno and into Rocco’s. There I found Frank, a friendly, mustached man who works the kitchen and the counter with his daughter. I asked him if what the old man told me was true, and he just pointed to a pile of fresh shells sitting on a baking sheet.
(Cannoli shells at Rocco’s without ricotta in sight)
I’d spent years looking for hand-piped cannoli in New York, and here they were LITERALLY in my own backyard. I tried two mini cannoli, one regular, the other’s shell dipped in chocolate. They were both wonderful. I still like the ones out on Cypress Avenue better, but now that I know I can find real, hand-piped cannoli around the corner from my house, I’ll be crossing the bridge a little less often.
(Frank mugs for shot with his cannoli before wieghing them)
Rocco’s Pastry, Bleeker btwn Leroy and Carmine, The Village, Manhattan
Check out http://www.famousfatdave.com for a chuckle or to book an eating tour
tzuzie said,
May 1, 2006 at 9:30 pm
Oh, you make me so homesick! I’ve been living in Montana for 10 years and your entries make me hunger for New York. Next time I return for a visit I’m taking one of your food tours. Thanks for a consistently interesting blog.
bobbie said,
May 2, 2006 at 2:10 am
I can’t take it anymore. I must have a Famous Fat Dave tour. To hell with the diet!!
Rob said,
May 2, 2006 at 3:02 pm
I took a lunchtime visit to Rocco’s for cannoli last week and thought they were great. I think I was the only native NY-er in there – mostly european tourists, some who were very confused when they found out that the shells actually get stuffed with cheese.
I’m planning on heading down again for a repeat – maybe the chocolate shell. Any recommendations on area pizza (other than John’s)?
Administrator said,
May 2, 2006 at 4:44 pm
Try “No. 28″ pizza on Carmine between Bleeker and Bedford. It’s legit.
Also, I just went into Po (Cornelia and Bleeker) for the first time, and it was great. And verging on cheap surprisingly. I suggest getting whatever the special is and the gnocchi with smoked mozzarella and the broccoli rabe.
Chelsea Clinton was there all drunk and singing Suspicious Minds to her boyfriend while sitting on his lap. It was embarrassing even before I realized it was her. I didn’t want to see it. And Monica Lewinsky was there last week. It would have been awkward had they crossed paths. THAT I’d like to see.
sohogirl said,
May 4, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Thank you for this- I have tried the lesser cannoli before, it was so bad I could believe they would sell them. I’m heading to Rocco’s on my way home, had a few good coffee mornings there.
Shawn said,
May 8, 2006 at 2:57 am
Nothing better than a fresh cannoli. If you’re ever on the UWS, Cafe Mozart on 70th and Columbus does an excellent cannoli. I believe that Ferrara’s still stuffs theirs fresh too–about the only good Italian food you can get in Little Italy these days.
The Hungry Cabbie: The Eating Adventures of a NYC Yellow Cabbie » My 28th Year Of Life And My 14th Year Of Cannoli said,
November 21, 2006 at 10:31 pm
[...] Hi Dave, I’ve been a long-time reader of your blog, and have to say I’ve become secretly addicted to your reviews. Though I seriously loved your “three burgers in a day” entry, my favorite has been your cannoli saga, and it has stuck out as the pinnacle of NYC eating to this California girl. Alas, I didn’t have the time nor funds to go on your full tour when I was visiting Manhattan last month, but I did have Rocco’s on the top of my foodie list…though of course…I forgot the address at home. Dejected, I was convinced I would have to leave the city without having tasted my first cannoli ever…until lo and behold I stumbled upon it when I was on a mission to Bleeker St. Records. It was seriously one of those serendipitous moments where you know you’re at the right place at the right time! Needless to say, the cannoli was amazing, better than I ever could have imagined it to be: crispy shell, thick, sweet cream, little pistachios for nuttiness…well, I don’t need to tell you, do I? I just wanted to thank you for introducing me to Rocco’s, and consequently, one of the most heavenly foodie experiences of my life to date. Keep up the great work with blog and your reviews in NFT and Gothamist, and I hope one day to partake in a Wheels of Steel Tour myself! All the best, Zhaddi [...]
Lisa said,
February 5, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Hi Dave,
I am a relative newcomer to the blog(discovered you via Saveur 100). I have to comment on the cannoli post because I worked at Rocco’s MANY years ago (between the ages of 15-18 or so). I’m 41 now, and Frank was my boss back then! His daughter wasn’t even born when I started. Best cannoli then too–to say nothing of the Italian ices–we had lines around the block and people coming in from NJ and CT..
I’m a Greenwich Village girl, born and bred, but I’ve been living in Madison, WI for 23 years. I still come back to the Village at least once a year to visit my parents, shop at Rocco’s, and take my 10 year old for soup dumplings in Chinatown! So one of these days we’ll have to meet for cannoli and a cab ride! Keep up the good work! Lisa