CHEESE STORE
276 Bleeker Street
FEBRUARY 2, 1937. ABBOTT FILE 197

In the heart of Little Italy--anchored by the famous Church of Our Lady of Pompeii at Bleecker and Carmine Streets--were numerous food specialty shops, such as the cheese store run for 15 years by the Mandaro family. Making their own products, such as caciotella seen in small wicker baskets and provotella hanging in the window, the Mandaros also imported cheeses, such as the rounds of Bel Paese lining the window's front edge.

For Americans in the 1930s, Mandaro's inventory was exotic. Project researcher Sally Sands believed it necessary to define ricotta and parmesan, and she noted that cheddar cheese was by far the American favorite, followed by "Swiss" (without holes) and cream cheese. Abbott's photographs of culinary storefronts--an Italian cheese shop, a Lebanese restaurant, and a kosher chicken market--all appeared in Changing New York, highlighting the city's ethnic diversity.

Mandaro's no longer exists, although similar shops can still be found along the stretch of Bleecker Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, which retains its Italian flavor, despite the influx of shops catering to tourists and students. The Mandaro storefront has been taken over by the ever expanding John's Pizzeria, a neighborhood institution that first opened in 1934

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