Italians congregated in ethnic neighborhoods in settings such as San Francisco's North Beach, Boston's North End and Chicago's Nineteenth Ward. Over the summer I took a trip to Boston with my mom and we stayed near the North End. This is one of the dishes I got at Bricco Restaurant. Boston is home to many immigrants migrating here and forming their own neighborhoods when they settled making Boston a very diverse place. The North end is notable for its Italian community "Boston's Little Italy". The first Italian immigrants arrived in the North End in the 1860's. It's authentic culture is still embraced as you can see when you go down their streets. They have numerous Italian restaurants- you can tell the food is homemade and probablywith generation old recipes.
Another place I visited in Boston adding to the Italian culture is "Mike's Pastry". Founded in 1946. Mike's Pastry is located on the North. End on Hanover Street. Michael Mercogliano is the founder and creator and they are most notable for their cannolis.
Lastly, I also was able to go to San Francisco, California. On our trip we went to Chinatown. Like our reading, many Chinese immigrants migrated to California and blended here for architecture, political, and economic reasons. In 1906, an earthquake resulted in enormous fires leaving mass destruction. In its effect, Chinatown had been known as being a slum with drugs and prostitution. Later on engineers and architects worked to improve its look. Designs blended various Chinese traditions and American ideas of how it should look. Now it is a main tourist attraction. These are some images I took and we found a place to eat that. had soup dumplings. The Americanization definitely does not make it feel like you are in China but it is still fun to walk around and see all the decorations and designs.
Those cannoli! Thanks for posting food pics. And I love the North End. Forget Paul Revere and the North Church--let's go eat! Nowadays, the North End is under siege in some ways, because people who grew up in the neighborhood can't afford to live there any more. How do you keep the ethnic identity of a place going under those circumstances, especially when that identity "sells"? People come to the North End because it is Italian. So what if it no longer really is? Thanks also for the Chinatown pictures. Travel is the best way to learn.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting because I never knew about the Boston's North End and how it is notable to the Italian community. I find it interesting because my hometown has a huge Italian population and we often see many pastry stores and Italian style cafes and of course cannolis are a staple item at many bakeries here. I also like the pictures you captured in San Fransisco in Chinatown, it truly looks a like a great place to explore.