St. Joseph's Day Brings Deliciousness

FYI, today is St. Joseph's Day. I have a friend named Joseph, so I send him good wishes today!

It being St. Joesph's Day and all, know that Rose & Joe's bakery (home of the very tasty pizza) has St. Joseph's Bread today. It is believed by some, that if St. Joseph's bread is kept in the home, the family will never starve. What I know, is that it's delicious!

Sfinge/zeppoli are also tasty St. Joseph's Day baked items. Totally worth it. Check it out at Rose & Joes. In fairness, neighboring La Guli probably has some pretty kickass St. Joseph's Day goodies, too.

Where else in the neighborhood do you find your St. Joseph's Day sweets?

Angelo & Son's Bakery

Tonight I went to Hellgate Social to witness the Guitar Hero play time. They bar had set it all up - guitar, drums, and mic - for anyone to play Guitar Hero. My original intent was to just watch but I got roped in, and boy was it fun! I did ok, not great, but had lots of fun. I can see how the game was such a popular seller this past Christmas.

On the way over to HGS, I spied the brightness that is Angelo & Son's Bakery. They've done some renovations it seems, including the neon. Angelo & Son's provides the bread for Sal, Kris and Charlie (the Sandwich Kings), and it's pretty good. Looks like they are going to have a cafe element to the bakery, which will be nice. That part of town is a bit lackluster compared to other parts, so bright, cheery places like that are a nice addition to the area.

Angelo & Son's is located at 22-09 Astoria Blvd.

Astorian Weekend Edition 13.09.07

One of my favorite events is happening this weekend, the Shoreline Cleanup. The big one will be in Astoria Park, starting around 9am, going until around 1pm or so. Check-in is on Shore Blvd across from the war memorial, and you'll most likely see me helping out there. It's a terrific event and a great way to contribute to the community. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes (that means no sandals or flipflops). And if Astoria Park is too far from you, from 11am-2pm that day there's a shoreline cleanup at Gantry Park. Gantry Park is located at at 48th Avenue and the East River. For more info, contact GantryParkFriends@aol.com.

Later that day is the re(Cycle) Plays at Socrates Sculpture Park. This is a free event with a bunch of local theater groups participating. From the press release:

THE (re)CYCLE PLAYS is a free outdoor festival of live performances in theatre, dance, and music with green themes. A dynamic mix of artists will recycle titles from the medieval Cycle Plays and pair them with today's leading ecological issues. This series of short performances will cycle throughout the day on multiple stages.

Also on Sunday, Flux Factory (38-38 43rd Street) is starting a new project, DeluxeFactory. There's a capitalist element to it, which I'm sure will be twisted by FF in their own inimitable way. Saturday at 7pm is the opening party, plus the gallery is open during the weekend.

The Astoria Symphony has a performance this weekend, too. They'll be performing the music of Wagner, Huff, and Brahms. On Sunday at 5pm they'll be playing in Astoria at St. Joseph's Catholic Church (43-19 30th Avenue). Tickets are $12 apiece.

Thursday night the Creek and the Cave in LIC (10-93 Jackson Ave) they're showing Kill Bill 2. I was there last Thursday and had a great time. The food is tasty, the beer is great, and it's fun to be outside in the back watching a movie. Kill Bill was terrifically violent but such a well-crafted film. I'm really curious to see how things happen in the second installation.

If you want to do some shopping this weekend, we've got great boutiques here in town: Kristees (24-01 23rd Avenue), Candy Plum (30-98 36th Street), Loveday 31 (33-06 31st Ave), The Blooming Company (22-75 31st Street), and Mimi's Closet (21-10 31st Street) come to mind. Such cute stuff!

And maybe a trip to Dolce Italia will be in your plans? I understand that apart from the delicious pastries they also sell bread. Pair that with some great feta and olives from Angelo's Food Emporium ( 31-27 Ditmars Blvd) up the street, and a bottle of Greek wine from Omega Wines over on 23rd Ave (29-15 23rd Street), and you're set. Don't forget some gelato later at La Guli (29-15 Ditmars Blvd)!

Dolce Italia Bakery in Astoria

While walking home from a fun-filled afternoon with friends, my guy and I spied the Dolce Italia Bakery storefront outfitted with a "Grand Opening" sign. We went to open the door and the owners beat us to it, opening up and showing off all their delicious treats. The store is crisp and clean and the baked goods looked fabulous. Lots of Italian cookies, little tarts, big cakes, amazing looking marzipan fruits, cheesecakes, and my favorite, cannoli. We tried a hazelnut chocolate cannoli and a tiny little strawberry-kiwi tart. Both were really delicious! I loved the hazelnut and chocolate combo in the cannoli, plus the consistency of the filling was smooth yet substantial. The little tart had a lot of fruit flavor in it for such a little thing, and the pastry cream sitting below the fruit was clean and not overly sweet, and balanced well with the fruit. So, a big thumbs up from us. I'll be back for sure.

FYI, Dolce Italia is in the place of the old Modern Italian Bakery.

Dolce Italia Bread & Pastry Shop
36-06 Ditmars Blvd.
Astoria
718-278-4188

Le Petit Prince Bakery Closed???

I've been hearing rumors that Le Petit Prince bakery might be closed. Apparently people have seen ovens and baking equipment heading out of the bakery, and the space has been shuttered for a while now. So sad! It was a great bakery! Different from anything else in the area and certainly delicious. JIA friend Zora expresses her feelings about the situation here.

I still have hopes that their closing is only temporary, and that they are just upgrading their equipment.

If anyone has any other info, post it here!