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.
