Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that Bayonne will hold an Italian celebration on Thursday night, November 1. The celebration will include a dinner and band music at the Villa Maria, 417 Broadway, Bayonne, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The event is being presented by Mayor Davis and the Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation (BEOF), Bayonne’s community action agency. Mayor Davis said, “We would like to invite everyone to the second annual Italian celebration to benefit the BEOF. It promises to be a fun occasion with great food and entertainment. This event will provide a great opportunity to enjoy Italian-American culture. We look forward to seeing you there.â€
   Italian Cuisine served with a Whole Lotta Love
 By Sally Deering
David Rivera, owner, Bella Sorrellas
Bayonne has its share of Italian restaurants and Bella Sorrellas on the corner of 50th Street and Broadway, stands out from the crowd with a menu of classic Italian dishes served with a home-style flair. Owner David Rivera opened Bella Sorrellas three years ago where the old Welcome Inn used to be. The son of Ana and Demetrio “Lumen†Rivera, David grew up watching his father run his Jersey City restaurants: The Seagulls Bar & Grill on Communipaw Ave; The Old San Juan on Jersey Ave; and The Fan Bar on Grove – and he knew early on he wanted to be a restaurateur like his dad.
“I was about 5 and my father picked me up at school and took me to his restaurant, The Seagulls,†Rivera recalls. “I went behind the bar and started cleaning the glasses. He asked me what I was doing and I said, ‘I want to be like you’ and he hugged me and said ‘One day you will.’ Since I was 16 I worked with him after school and through college.â€
Rivera worked ten years as transportation supervisor for Christ Hospital in Jersey City and decided he wanted to go back to the restaurant business.
Bella Sorrellas Chef Leo Compi with owner David Rivera
           “There was something empty in my heart,†he says. “My father’s philosophy was ‘make sure the customer is fed well and feels at home’. He was in the business over 30 years. Everybody loved my father and I wanted to be like that. â€
           Rivera followed in father’s footsteps and Bella Sorrellas (which is Italian for “beautiful sisters†and named for his daughters Analexa, 18, and Isabel, 5) is a cozy corner bistro with an extensive Italian menu. The star of the show – as always – is the food and Rivera works closely with Chef Leo Compi (formerly of Just Sonny’s) a friend for more than 10 years. Continue reading Bayonne’s Bella Sorrellas, a Fine Italian Restaurant→
La Festa Italiana 2010:  The Holy Rosary Church organizes this wonderful  street festival, celebrating Italian-American traditions, spirituality, with  evenings of music, dance and authentic Italian foods.
Since I can remember the Holy Rosary Feast has always been a downtown Jersey City tradtion. Holy Rosary was my parish and my family has lived in the Village section of Jersey City around the corner from Holy Rosary, for for over 90 years. I love the area and the people. The old time Village people and the new residents that have made it home in the last 15 years. Wonderful people all of them living and loving their neighborhoods. This is the fabric of the Village section of Jersey City, and the Holy Rosary feast. This feast gets better every year.
A lifestyle and entertainment publication serving the Jersey City, Hoboken, Bayonne, Weehawken, West New York, North Bergen, Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Secaucus and Guttenberg Waterfront Communities
