Italian Market

It must have been over 20 years since we visited Italian Market last time. Strangely, it still looks the same, old, chaotic, but vibrant with colors and aroma. There are some very interesting stores. I don’t cook Italian often enough to know all the cheeses, oils, meats and spices. It’s eye-opening today, but I only came home with pictures. Next time, I will go with a purpose for some authentic Italian food essentials.

Di Bruno Bros

One of the busiest stores on the market. The variety of cheeses were just mind boggling.

Grassia’s Spice

Claudio’s Specialty Foods

I never realized there are so many different shapes of pasta! Racks after racks of homemade pasta in Claudio’s make me wonder beyond water and flour, what makes all these pasta different from one another.

Cardenas Oil & Vinegar Taproom

Such a neat shop! It’s more like a tasting room than a store. The owner on the right was showing us mixing his favorite olive oil with vinegar for tasting. Wow, how many different types of olive oil and vinegar are there??!! And imagine their combinations!

Molly’s Books & Records

Fante’s Kitchen Shop

What a place! Floor to ceiling full of kitchen treasures, from vintage meat grinders to modern devices, cast iron pots and pans, some even look hand-made! It has everything and anything one would ever need for the kitchen.

There is a wall of of famous culinary people.

Very next door, it was the coffee and tea shop. The whole area was filled with wonderful aroma. It not only has all kinds of coffee beans and tea, it also has as many types of coffee makers as you can imagine, from fancy espresso machines to stove top old fashion coffee maker. So impressed!

There are also many produce, meat, seafood vendors. Vegetables and fruits are pretty cheap.

Geno’s Steaks

Our weekly trip to Philadelphia this fall has also served as an adventure to try all the Cheesesteak in Philly! Geno’s is our 4th steak place. It’s known for un-shredded beef. Geno’s is right across from Pat’s King of Steaks which was said to be the inventor of Philly Cheesesteak, our next place on the dinner list.

Geno’s sits in the little triangle cut out by E. Passyunk Ave. The shape of the building is very interesting. This nice guy saw me taking pictures and posed for me, unfortunately, the window glare created a hazed look.

Geno’s at night. We went back to Geno’s for dinner. I got Whiz Wit and it was pretty good. But there is no in-door seating, on a chilly night like tonight, the Cheesesteak got cold pretty quickly. It’s comparable to Jim’s in taste.