It was Saturday today, so we were out and about yet again for another food crawl, this time around the Fordham / Arthur Avenue area in the Bronx. Unfortunately for me, I felt especially heavy and slow today, and it seems like during longer walks, my Braxton Hicks contractions keep going a little out of control. Walking up stairs now gets me far more winded than it used to, and so I am definitely a lot slower than even just a few weeks ago. I guess we’re in the home stretch, so I can manage this for just another month or so before totally going nuts.

It may only be in New York where you can get access to authentic Dominican and Puerto Rican cuisine and amazing Italian cuisine within blocks of each other. We made stops at some old staples we found last year, like Cuchifritos for mango juice, chicharron, and alcapurrias, Gino’s Pastry Shop for my favorite NYC cannoli, and also at the Calabria Pork Store for freshly made sausage (this time, I chose sweet Italian with fennel). We also discovered some new spots, like Borgatti’s for fresh pasta (we got fresh tagliatelle egg noodles and ricotta/porcini ravioli), and Casa Della Mozzarella, which had quite the line out its door. They are famous for being on multiple lists for making the very best mozzarella in New York City. Our main sit down meal was at Antonio’s, where we had magherita pizza with some of the best mozzarella on pizza we’d ever had, and Chris actually had a glass of Italian red (“super Tuscan”) that was for once, very fruity, tasty, and satisfying.

During food treks like these, on the way home, I always feel very grateful to live in such a diverse and delicious city. To have access to foods of this quality just a subway ride away is a real privilege and blessing. I hope my little Pookie Bear is able to embrace all of this deliciousness, too, when she arrives.