Ravioli, Arancini, and a Pastry Ending in Greenwich Village
A tasting walk through Greenwich Village's old Italian shops, led by a guide whose family has been here since 1884.
The Italian South Village is down to a short run of counters on and around Bleecker Street. A pasta shop the Raffetto family opened in 1906 and never moved off the corner. A coffee importer trading since 1907. A pork store that has been in the same family since 1900. A pastry shop to finish on. Four of those shops appear on the neighborhood preservation group’s Village Award list.
Greg Marro leads the walk. He is a licensed New York City guide whose Italian family has been in this neighborhood since 1884, and the stops arrive with family stories attached to specific storefronts. The operator says the samples do not add up to lunch. Plan a real meal around it.
Public departures run Tuesday through Sunday. Booking closes three hours before the start time, and prices open at 89 dollars per person.
NYC Greenwich Village Italian Food Walking TourGreg Walks NYC Food Tours · two to three hours on foot · from 89 dollarswww.viator.comWhat Lands in Your Hand
The run opens with a Brazilian Italian cheese bread, a slice of prosciutto di Parma, and a brigadeiro. Next comes ravioli and arborio rice pudding at the pasta shop. Then the coffee importer, holding more than a hundred coffees and teas. Then the pork store, for arancini, bocconcini, meatballs, and enough bread to get the sauce off the plate. The listing also names a lemon pound cake and a slice of grandma pizza.
The walk finishes at the pastry shop, a different address from where it began. Samples and sights shift with the season and with what the shops have that morning, which the listing states outright. Most of the eating happens on the pavement. The operator describes these walks as an open-air setting, and travelers who went in cold weather describe standing outside for several of the stops.
Two Churches and a Fountain
Three of the stops involve no food at all. Fifteen minutes of the walk happen inside St. Anthony of Padua on Sullivan Street, a church Italian immigrants built for themselves in the 1880s, where the listing points at the Romanesque interior, the marble altar, and the Corinthian columns. The city landmarked the block around it in 2016.
Further along, the route reaches a small square where a fountain sits under a church bell tower, and then Our Lady of Pompeii itself. The archdiocese lists four Sunday Masses there: 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM in English, 11:00 AM in Italian, 1:00 PM in Portuguese. Bleecker Street and the Tira a Segno rifle club go past without a stop.
Eight at Most, and the Family Behind It
Public tours cap at eight travelers, and two are needed for a departure to run at all. A single traveler can still book. When the headcount comes up short the operator reschedules and sends the amendment by message. The booking form will take as many as fifteen names, and eight is the number that fits a public walk.
Greg Marro guides in English, Italian, and Spanish.
Before You Book
A few things the listing states, and one the guide needs to hear early.
- Tell the guide about food allergies and dietary restrictions before the walk starts. The listing puts that in capital letters.
- The walk runs in all weather conditions. Dress for the day you get.
- No alcohol is served or permitted, and smoking stays off as a courtesy to the group.
- The route is wheelchair accessible, takes a pram or stroller, and is rated for all fitness levels.
- Travelers with spinal injuries or poor cardiovascular health are advised against it.
- Tickets are sold in one age band covering ages seven to ninety-nine.
Tuesday through Saturday the group forms on the church steps at 153 Sullivan Street in SoHo. The Sunday departure meets at a different address, outside Faicco's at 260 Bleecker Street. Check which day you booked before you set off.
Cancel at least twenty-four hours before the departure time for a full refund. No shows are not refunded, gratuities are appreciated, and no hotel pickup is included. The walk ends at the pastry shop with something sweet in hand, and the rest of Bleecker Street is right there.