Trekkin' around Little Italy and Corned Beef Row

I am spending more on groceries than I should. However, much of that was spent at two places in Little Italy that people don't regularly shop for groceries.

Vaccaro's

After parking at Whole Foods, buying some mesclun (in bulk!) and getting validated, I wandered into the neighborhood my great-grandparents first lived after they came from Napoli to New York, and then made the big trek down to Baltimore. I noticed not only a second Indian restuarant in Little Italy, but a Spanish tapas bar as well. But of course, there were the umpteen fancy and not-so-fancy Italian spots in our little Little Italy. I passed buy a guy singing Italian songs on a stage, not exactly sure where I was going. But my feet (working with my stomach) knew where they wanted to go: Vaccaro's. I saw the 2006 World Cup Final - and the infamous head butt - in Vaccaro's second floor.

I am always flabbergasted with the selections in any pastry shop, but things with the word "butter", "chocolate" and "vanilla" always come to the head of the line (things with "coconut" usually go to the end). I got about $9 worth of cookies, including lemon coolers, butter chocolate, butter almond and an Italian cookie with a gooey raisin filling. I hate that I forgot the name.



Attman's

Leaving Whole Foods, I didn't go straight home. I had wanted to stop at Attman's for a while now. The most famous institution on Corned Beef Row, I had not actually stopped in since I was a child. A favorite (though occasional) Sunday lunch was a bunch of Attman's famous kosher hot dogs wrapped in fried bologna. I got neither of these things, though I did get a half pound of hot corned beef (about $8) and an order of Western fries ($3). I had forgotten just how extensive "the line" really was, but at least it gave this indecisive shopper enough time to figure out what he wanted.