A food festival will celebrate eateries and local cuisine in the Morris Park area.
A Taste of Morris Park, billed as the community’s first ever festival dedicated to food, is scheduled for Loreto Park on Sunday, October 18 from 1 to 4 p.m.
The event is co-hosted by Senator Jeff Klein and the Morris Park Community Association.
It will feature live entertainment as well as restaurants from the local community both selling food and providing free samples.
The Just Us band will perform two 45-minute sets during the event, and there will be cotton candy, popcorn, and face painting for children.
“Everyone is welcome to come to and try the good food that we have in Morris Park,” said Tony Signorile, MPCA president. “This is the first year we are going to be doing this, and we welcome people from the tri-state area and from the five boroughs.”
Senator Klein said that the idea for A Taste of Morris Park was one that he has been suggesting to Signorile and members of the MPCA.
He sees the event as a follow-up of the Bronx Columbus Day Parade, the second largest such parade in New York State.
The event also coincides with Italian Heritage Month, he added.
“I am a life-long resident of Morris Park,” said Klein. “I think we have some great restaurants. The more that we can highlight them, the more we can bring more people into the community to patronize our local restaurants, and to celebrate not just Italian-American heritage but also the great community we have in Morris Park.”
The event will be family themed, said the senator, and he added that students from Morris Park schools including St. Clare’s School, P.S. 83, St. Francis Xavier, and P.S. 108 have been invited.
MPCA vice president Al D’Angelo said that the event will be a great way for Bronxites to sample the food offerings of the community, but he also sees it as a community-building event.
“It is also a great chance to meet your neighbor; the worst part about community is not knowing your neighbor,” said D’Angelo. “This gives people a chance to meet each other and realize that we have a lot more in common than we have differences.”
D’Angelo said this is really the first attempt at something like this for the community, and hopefully, if it become an annual event it will become something similar in the type of festival to Ferragosto on Arthur Avenue.
Among the restaurants participating in the event will be Patricia’s Morris Park, 1082 Morris Park Avenue; Patsy’s Pizzeria, 980 Morris Park Avenue; Enzo’s Restaurant, 1998 Williamsbridge Road; Lotus Flame, 866 Morris Park Avenue; G & R Deli, 1928 Williamsbridge Road; Conti’s Pastry Shoppe, 786 Morris Park Avenue and Burger Time, 1080 Morris Park Avenue.
For more information, contact Senator Klein’s office at (718) 822-2049.
