I’ve been going to the San Gennaro Festival pretty much every year I’ve been in the city. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a town that had a sizable Italian population and an annual Italian festival, but there’s something about the always-crowded, often annoying street fair that still manages to get me to go (it may have also been the strange appeal of getting strawberry daiquiris in ridiculous plastic cups). Despite everything being overpriced, I’ve always enjoyed the typical fare of sausages with peppers and onions, calamari, zeppoles, and fried ____. This year’s festival, however, got a pretty nice gourmet upgrade that I felt was worth mentioning, especially since the festival ends on Sunday (aka check it out before it’s over, obviously).
Now as a disclaimer, I’m actually exhausted from work and the NYTimes just wrote up a review that pretty much encompasses everything I was planning on saying, so I’m going to let them do most of the talking. All I have to say is that Byggyz beef sandwich is bomb (check out Wylie Dufresne of wd-50 and his Dad manning the stand in my pictures) and for some really yummy Turkish food and one of the best pieces of baklava I’ve ever had, find the Mmm… Enfes stand (there’s a big “Homemade Turkish Food” banner). In the meantime, check out more food porn and other photos below, read the NYTimes article, go to San Gennaro, and stuff your face. Salute.
