Little Italy prepares for feast of the seven fishes
The cozy restaurant opened its doors in 2014. It may only have a few tables, but they’re all reserved by Bronxites hungry for authentic southern Italian cuisine.
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It’s the holiday season in Little Italy, which means San Gennaro on Arthur Avenue is getting ready for the feast of the seven fishes.
“Christmas time, cooking like a nice crispy calamari, like a bakala-- you know that's like real Italian culture, especially now," said owner Gennaro Martinelli.
The cozy restaurant opened its doors in 2014. It may only have a few tables, but they’re all reserved by Bronxites hungry for authentic southern Italian cuisine.
“I do Italian food, not Italian American, ” Martinelli said. No chicken parm. Not even penne vodka is served here.
“Alfredo is a name, it's not a pasta," he said jokingly. "Vodka is a drink, not a sauce."
Martinelli says Italian-American food is still delicious, but it’s too heavy.
“[Italian food] it's lighter. We use less cream, less butter. We use more like extra virgin olive oil."
And they got shelves of it-- it's the only oil San Gennaro uses. For more than 10 years, San Gennaro has been using the same three-man system: one head chef, a salad chef and one dishwasher. It's a tiny kitchen, but the orders keep coming.
Martinelli says he’s hosting about 170 people on Christmas Eve and can’t wait to welcome hungry guests.
