11.21.06

My 28th Year Of Life And My 14th Year Of Cannoli

Posted in Cannoli, Sweets at 10:26 pm by Administrator

Yesterday was my 28th birthday. It was sometime around my 14th birthday that I went to visit my brother at Amherst College and went out to eat at an Italian restaurant called Carmelina’s. There, for the first time in my young life, I discovered what cannoli was. Josh and his roommates ordered them, and I watched as the waiter squeezed fresh ricotta from the tube into the waiting shell. I had one bite and I LOVED it. But I didn’t really start eating cannoli seriously until a couple years later at the Giaquinta household of Potomac, Maryland.

Number 28 isn’t really a big deal aside from the fact that it means I survived 27 which Jimi, Janis, Curt, Tupac, Valentino, and a few others didn’t. Still, this birthday is momentous in a way. It marks the 14th year since I first laid eyes on cannoli, meaning that cannoli have been a part of my life for half of its duration. For the rest of my life, I will have known of cannoli for the better part of it.

Little did I know 14 years ago how big a role cannoli would play not only in my life, but in my personality. I’ve been dubbed “The Cannoli Kid” by a real-life Sicilian. I made three separate pilgrimages to Sicily in search of cannoli. And I’ve scoured the five boroughs for true cannoli in my yellow cab. I even found a reason to speak of cannoli in the Village Voice article about me in which I am pictured with a giant pickle in my mouth.

And recently I recieved an incredibly heart-warming email from a reader whose love of cannoli seems to have sprung from my own:

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

(Zhaddi’s cannoli: she is clearly a better photographer than I am)

That letter warms my heart to no end. It makes me as proud a Sicilian. And it is exactly why I do what I do. If I were a chef, I’d watch with pride as people eat the food I cook them. But I’m just an eater. Thus my satisfaction comes from watching people’s eyes light up when I introduce them to the foods I love.

So yesterday, on an otherwise unimportant 28th birthday, Melissa knew exactly what I would love the most. She sneaked out to Rocco’s on the pretense that she was going to the deli. I had no clue what she was up to. But she came back to surprise me with a black and white, a strawberry shortcake, and TWO beautiful, fresh-made, hand-piped cannoli.

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11.03.06

This is NOT for tourists

Posted in Belmont, Bronx, Chinese, DC, Fruits and Veggies, Italian, New Jersey, Posts For Not For Tourists, Seafood, Sweets at 8:48 am by Administrator

I hope you’ve been checking in to Not For Tourist Guidebook every day. If you haven’t, may I suggest you do so today. Both the New York page (Randazzo’s Seafood in The Bronx) and the DC page (Roger’s Produce in Potomac, Maryland) have blurbs written by some crazy cabbie.

Also, I’ve missed a couple opportunities to link to my blurbs in the past few weeks, so you can belatedly click below for those as well.

Magic Fountain Ice Cream in New Jersey

Bethesda Co-Op in Bethesda, Maryland

Tony Cheng’s in Chinatown, DC

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09.08.06

The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: The Irish Circle

Posted in Fruits and Veggies, Italian, Posts For Gothamist, Queens, Rockaway Beach at 6:59 pm by Administrator

Today’s Gothamist column is the first time I’ve acknowledged that the Yankees did indeed lose to the Red Sox a couple of years back. I also acknowledge that I’ve been known to drop a couple of bucks on the horses at the OTB:

The Irish Circle

Visit the official Famous Fat Dave website for a laugh and to book an eating tour

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09.01.06

Suburban Pizza

Posted in DC, Italian, La Pizza, Posts For Not For Tourists at 9:35 pm by Administrator

People complain about DC pizza. Well, sometimes great pizza can be found in the most unlikely place, so don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it. Read today’s Not For Tourists DC “On Our Radar”:

Vince and Dominick’s

Visit FamousFatDaveDotCom for five borough pizza tour options back in the birthplace of American pizza

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08.28.06

The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: Fratelli’s Pizza Cafe

Posted in Bronx, Fruits and Veggies, Hunt's Point, Italian, La Pizza, Posts For Gothamist at 4:08 am by Administrator

One decade ago, a New York City yellow cab driver named Brent Owens filmed, what some consider, a landmark documentary for HBO. Hookers At The Point is about rampant prostitution, drugs, and despair in a rough, isolated Bronx neighborhood called Hunt’s Point.

Two days ago, a New York City yellow cab driver named Dave Freedenberg wrote, what he considers, a landmark column for Gothamist. The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: Fratelli’s Pizza Cafe is about delicious broccoli rabe, sausage and rabe Sicilian slices, and rabe heroes in that very same rough, isolated Bronx neighborhood.

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08.22.06

My Hometown

Posted in DC, Italian, La Pizza, Posts For Not For Tourists at 4:49 pm by Administrator

I drive a New York City yellow cab, but I grew up wanting to drive a DC Cab like Mr. T. Go to Not For Tourists Guidebook’s DC section today to read my post about some New York style pizza back in my hometown:

A.V. Ristorante Italiano

Visit Famous Fat Dave Dot Com for a five borough pizza tour through my adopted hometown

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08.20.06

The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: Teresa’s Gourmet Italian Ices and Cafe

Posted in Bronx, Italian, La Pizza, Pelham Bay, Posts For Gothamist, Sweets at 1:31 pm by Administrator

As if you needed another excuse to go for that heavenly slice of sausage pizza in The Bronx at Louie and Ernie’s. Next door, Teresa’s sells great homemade ices:

www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/08/20/the_hungry_cabb_22.php

Visit www.famousfatdave.com to see what we each between palate cleansers on a five borough eating tour

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