Feast on good food at Festa Italiana

(This nice lady was serving up some delicious slices of pizza Thursday night at the Italian Center in Poughkeepsie)

If you're looking for free entertainment and a good lunch or dinner this weekend in Poughkeepsie, head over to the Italian Center on Mill Street for the annual Festa Italiana. It's the center's major fundraiser of the year and it features live music, raffles, children's activities and, of course, Italian food — lots of it!

The festa, which started Thursday, continues today with lunch served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 5:30-11 p.m. On Saturday, you can eat from 1-11 p.m.; and on Sunday from 1-9 p.m. This is the first year lunch was served Thursday-Friday, so if you haven't brought something to eat to work today, head on over to the center's parking lot that faces Washington and Mansion streets for a satisfying lunch at a very reasonable price. You'll also be helping a valuable community resource, now in its 80th year, raise funds for scholarships and more.

(This was Thursday's lunch menu)

How convenient for me the Italian Center is basically across the street from the Journal building, so I made a beeline over there with my colleague Theresa for lunch Thursday. I brought some meals and pastries back for some of my co-workers, and everyone was happy munching away while they worked.

(Mary Ann Kornaus brings over the antipasto plate for Theresa Thursday afternoon)

I met up with my husband after work Thursday night and we had dinner and enjoyed the free music by Nitelife with Johnny Dell before heading home after a long day.

Here's some of the culinary offerings and scenes you'll find there:

I don't eat meat, but I had to take a photograph of this sausage and pepper hoagie a nice person had ordered and allowed me to photograph. (Smile for the camera, you cute little sandwich, you!)

Larry Natoli, fondly referred to by Mary Ann as "The Sausage Man," was manning the grill and made that cute little sandwich pictured above.



The panini were good. There were vegetarian and meat choices.




I shared a grilled zucchini and portobello mushroom with mozzarella panino with my colleague Maria for lunch.

Anna Mae Tkazyik was serving up slabs of homemade lasagna, both vegetarian and meat, Thursday afternoon.

The vegetable lasagna was really good, made with a white sauce, crisp veggies and a lot of garlic!

I told everyone to save room for dessert! The cannoli weren't ready Thursday afternoon so we had to settle for a luscious Napoleon, eclairs and a piece of cheesecake topped with pineapple.

Over at the Cafe Italiano, there was an assortment of goodies from antipasti to really good espresso (served with a splash of Sambucca if you like!).

There were cheese plates with grilled vegetables and cold cuts.

This is the dinner my husband and I assembled. A slice of pizza for $3.50 could easily feed two people. The tomato salad was just like I make at home — organic red and yellow tomatoes with fresh garlic, basil and olive oil — a taste of heaven, for sure. We washed it down with a glass of white wine — yum!

The linguine with garlic and olive oil was perfectly al dente.

Thursday night's musical entertainment featured Nitelife with Johnny Dell. That's Johnny up front with his sister on vocals and Jimi Heslin playing killer guitar. Poughkeepsie's own Mike Torsone sat in for a couple numbers on keyboards. They played an assortment of oldies and Italian songs. We sipped some espresso after dinner while we enjoyed the music .

Tony Cacace from the Bronx was visiting and sang a couple songs as well. He's the lead singer for Times Square, although Johnny Dell always kids he's from Dion and the Belmonts. (What a card that Johnny is!)

This graceful couple was experienced on the dance floor. They were fun to watch as they glided along.

And Tony and his partner really tore it up.

So if you're in the mood for Italian food and some community fun, head on over to the Italian Center in Poughkeepsie. It's a great way to sample good ethnic fare and say hi to your neighbors.