New friends XII

I had only been to the Bronx one other time, it was in 2004 and I was at the Yankee game. I remember buying our tickets for $5 each, Leanne came with me that summer. We were against the back wall and the Yankees were playing the Cleveland Indians, by the seventh inning stretch the Yanks were being shut out and the fans had vacated the stadium. I was able to get right behind the dugout for the last couple of innings and witnessed the worst loss in franchise history...22-0 for the Indians. Now here I was with Joseph driving down Arthur Avenue, which he swears has better Italian food than Little Italy.

We walked into a restaurant that was more like a family style kitchen, they didn't have menus or prices, you tell them what you would like, they ask the chef and your bill is somewhat of a surprise at the end...also bring cash because there will be no paper trail. We ordered mussels and baked clams to start with carbonara and chicken parmesan for entrees. He had a pint of Stella and I opted for a sparkling water and glass of Pinot Noir, we clinked glasses and shared stories of our dating experiences in NYC until the mountains of food arrived. There must have been 50 mussels on that plate and I heard him laugh when my jaw dropped...we would need four other people to finish this food.