Arthur Avenue

I've tried to get Matt to come with me to the San Gennaro festival (mid-September!) in Little Italy for 3 years without success... "Little Italy is so touristy. The real Italians are up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx." I still want to go to the festival (Matthew, take note;-)) But Matt's argument got major support when Bobby Flay did his eggplant parmigiana Throwdown at Mike's Deli in the Bronx.

So to the Bronx we went.

Oh my gosh it was so good. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Let me have a moment...


Okay, so back to the eggplant parm. The success of the dish lies in the thinly sliced eggplant, very light breading and quality sauce and mozzarella cheese. I really enjoyed the basil on top too! The grilled Italian bread was the perfect sauce soper-upper.

I can't make eggplant parm to save my life but I do consider myself to be quite the connoisseur. So whose the best? For years, the honor has gone to Salvatore Scallopini in the Detroit area (with Granny holding the record for the best baked version, Ted's Deli in Burlington, NJ for the best rollanti and a new Italian place in Newtown having the best roasted eggplant roll.) Am I prepared to declare a new winner? As much as I don't want to dethrone anything in Detroit, Mike's Deli takes the top spot by a thin slice of eggplant.

Mike's also had great sandwiches. Matt enjoyed his Raging Bull, which is supposed to have hot sopressata and sharp provolone. Not sure that it had the cheese on it, but he liked it whatever it was.

On my next journey to the Bronx I will definitely be placing a catering order for a whole tray of eggplant goodness!