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), Bayonneâ€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.”

The dinner will feature authentic Italian cuisine, along with beer, wine, soda, dessert, coffee, tea.  The admission charge will be $25 per person.  Music will be provided by Gerard Esposito, a Newark native who has sung at more than 4,000 performances since 1998.  Mr. Esposito sings the songs made famous by such artists as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Engelbert Humperdinck, Bobby Darin, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Paul Anka, and Tony Bennett.

          To reserve your place at the Italian dinner event, please visit beof.org, or call the Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation (BEOF) at 201-437-7222.  Proceeds from the event will benefit the social programs and services provided by the BEOF.

          The Italian night is the latest in a series of ethnic celebrations in the past year that have also included evenings with Irish, Polish, Hispanic, and African-American themes.  The entire community is invited to all of the ethnic celebrations. 

The post Bayonne to Hold Italian Night With Food and Music on Thursday, November 1 first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

Bayonne has its share of Italian restaurants and Bella Sorrellas on the corner of 50^th 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.”

Rivera worked ten years as transportation supervisor for Christ Hospital in Jersey City and decided he wanted to go back to the restaurant business.

            “There was something empty in my heart,” he says. “My fatherâ€s philosophy was ‘make sure the customer is fed well and feels at homeâ€. He was in the business over 30 years. Everybody loved my father and I wanted to be like that. ”

            Rivera followed in fatherâ€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 Sonnyâ€s) a friend for more than 10 years.

            “We always wanted to work together,” Rivera says. “I always liked the way Leo cooked at Just Sonnyâ€s and when they closed (the owner, Fortunato retired,) Leo came here. We have the same passion about food. He loves what he does the way I do.”

            Bella Sorrellas serves Soups, Appetizers, Salads, Pastas, Chicken, Veal, Steaks and Seafood dishes and the menu features a delicious Pasta Fagioli soup ($5.95); a Crispy Fried Calamari appetizer served with a hearty, perfectly seasoned red sauce ($10.95); and a very tasty Chicken Scarpariello entrée served with sausage, mushrooms and garlic in a lemon white wine sauce ($17.95).

            Appetizers also include Stuffed Mushrooms, Mussels, Shrimp Cocktail and Hot Antipasto ($8.95-$14.95); and Pasta dishes feature Linguini with Clams, Ravioli a la Bella, Baked Ziti a la Bella and Fettuccini or Tortellini Alfredo ($10.95-$14.95). Steak dishes include Filet Mignon, New York Strip and Steak Pizzaiola with Mushrooms in Marinara ($23.95-$24.95); and Seafood dishes feature Shrimp Scampi, Filet of Sole Francese, Zuppa Di Pesce,  and a Broiled Seafood Platter ($17.95-$25.95).

            “We serve only fresh ingredients,” Rivera says. “The produce is fresh. The meat is fresh. I refuse to serve anything frozen.”

            During a busy afternoon, Rivera greeted every customer who walked through the door with a smile After three years in the restaurant business his passion for his restaurant has not waned.

            “I love this business,” Rivera says. “I saw how hard my parents worked to make their businesses successful and I know I wanted to do exactly what they did. Interacting with the customers and seeing how much they enjoy the food – I love it all.”

 

If you go:

Bella Sorrellas

1020 Broadway

(Corner of 50^th St)

Bayonne

201-455-8844

Hours:

Tues – Fri, 11 am – Midnight

Sat, 2 pm – 1 am

Sun, 1 pm – Midnight

 

 

 

 

The post Bayonne’s Bella Sorrellas, a Fine Italian Restaurant first appeared on River View Observer.

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.

 If you want to enjoy a fun night out take your family to this feast.  Smaller than St. Anne’s in Hoboken (Holy Rosary Feast runs one block between Monmouth Street and Brunswick, this feast is large in heart and spirit. The passion of the parishoners and the people who live in the Village section can be felt walking the feast and  over the years it has become the “In Spot” to meet old friends and school mates and a place to make new friends too. You will love the “Olde World Charm” of this feast.

 – Joe Calamito,  River View Observer

This is Holy Rosary’s 125th year as a parish church on Sixth Street. All the more reason to be here for Live Entertainment including: The B Street Band, Total Soul, The Three Po Tenors, the Lou Pompilio Band and The Edge. Great Food from  local restaurants,  Famous Rice Balls & amp; Hot, Fresh Zeppole,  Famious Wine and Peaches, served by the wine and peaches girls, Professional Bar services, gambling, games of chance, 50/50’s and sooo much more.

The festival takes place outside Holy Rosary Church, on 6th Street between Monmouth and Brunswick Streets.

August 11, 2010 Wednesday – August 15, 2010 Sunday 6pm-11pm

For more info, call 201-795-0120 or visit the Holy Rosary Church website.

The post Feast of Holy Rosary A Street Festival with Heart and Spirit- August 11th – August 15th, 2010 first appeared on River View Observer.