DISH OF THE WEEK: Arrosticini from D’ABRUZZO at VENDY AWARDS

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

The is the first year that I took my son to the Vendy Awards and he was aware of what was going on. He’s on his way to being two year’s old. So while he still didn’t cram in every food tasting (like I always attempt to), he danced to the live music, smiled at many of the food vendors, and had some clear favorites.

Turns out he and I have similar tastes because the one dish that stood out to me is the one that he kept cutting the line to have seconds and thirds.

As he will learn when he gets older, the Vendy Awards are hosted by the Street Vendor Project and are a fundraiser to help with the advocacy work the organization does on behalf of the hard working vendors on the streets of New York City.

The nominees come in different categories and this year was especially full of excellent food. I could have been writing about the sweet, sour, and crunchy rice from IEatLaoFood or the arepas from legendary Queens vendor El Saboroso de Aracataca or the luscious banana pudding from Baonanas. But my son didn’t like those as much as the lamb skewers called arrosticini from Market Vendor of the Year winner D’Abruzzo.

This Italian street food is not at all what I expected. I though they’d be selling something like rice balls or mozzarella sticks. But I clearly don’t know my regional Italian food. I was surprised to see them grilling up skewers of lamb on a special charcoal grill.

I was handed a thin stick of meat (and took an extra one for my son). It was perfectly layered with the right amount of fat and grilled to a crispness that didn’t effect its juicy tenderness. It was just slightly seasoned with salt and pepper so the pure lamb flavor stood out.

After my son ate the first one, he immediately got up from his chair and made a beeline to D’Abruzzo’s stand and reached his hand out for another. What can I say – the kid has good taste.