Veritasty: Truthfully Delicious

Alex lives down the block from a local neighborhood-y place called Mona Lisa Bakery.  They are known primarily for their Italian pastries (my family used to buy cheesecake from their old storefront on Bath Avenue and it was a joy for little ol' me to stand and gawk at the beautiful cookies and cannoli in the glass case), but they also serve sit-down meals of pizza and pasta.  I've eaten here a handful of times because it's so nearby, the prices are decent, and sometimes you just crave Italian food like someone's nonna makes it.  This weekend, however, having dinner at Mona Lisa Bakery was among one of the worst ideas ever to strike a human's brain. When we entered the restaurant, it was Live Music Saturday.  Not like a saxophonist playing jazzy tunes in the corner.  Rather, like a busty 50-something blond lady in a red sequin dress (which had an inappropriately-high slit) singing karaoke in front of spinning strobe lights.  We were a party of five ...

I got Brooklyn pride.  I got Bensonhurst pride.  When I was born, Bensonhurst was known as a heavily Italian neighborhood.  Now, 20 years later, Bensonhurst Italians are spreading outward to Staten Island or New Jersey, whereas minority immigrant groups are moving in.  The “heart” of Bensonhurst is 18 th Avenue and the 60s-70s Streets.  Mind you, I actually live on Benson Avenue, not just within the vague boundaries of Bensonhurst you see on Google Maps, so I am a little miffed that people don’t consider my street to be the center of Bensonhurst….  Every summer, Bensonhurst is the host of the Feast of Santa Rosalia – better known as The Feast by locals – in honor of the patron saint of Palermo, Sicily.  The Feast is similar to the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy in the fall, and both have their pros and cons.  San Gennaro is far more popular and located in a historic, chic neighborhood, particularly with the Lower East Side and SoHo ...

Mint Chocolate Chip Cannolis Every year, loads of people swarm to Little Italy in late summer to experience the universal funness of a street fair in the form of the Feast of San Gennaro.  It's crowded.  It's smoky.  It's noisy.  It is also, above all, a quintessential New York cultural experience. Obviously there are things that are not ideal about San Gennaro.  A lot of the food stalls are unauthentic clones of the same old thing that you see at any street fair.  Mozzarepas?  Not really Italian food.  Best cannoli in the world?  Wait, I thought there was a sign for the best cannoli in the world on the block before; "best" is irrelevant.  Rasta-bananas?  Just...no words. Rasta-Banana...wtf? Sausage Then, there are also lots of things that are kind of magical about it too.  There is something deeply satisfying about having a piping hot Italian sausage sauteed with peppers and onions on chewy, crusty bre...