A Look at the Fourteenth Annual Battle of Bitonto Commemoration in New York City

Battle of Bitonto (c.1750) by Giovanni Luigi Rocco

Members of our little neobriganti community in New York City gathered at Amunì Ristorante (7217 3rd Avenue) in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn last Saturday for our Fourteenth Annual Battle of Bitonto Commemoration in memory of King Carlo di Borbone’s decisive victory over the Austrians in Apulia on 25 May 1734 and the subsequent founding of the Bourbon Dynasty of Naples and Sicily (later the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies).

Moved forward on account of the Minor Rogation Days, Ascension Thursday and Memorial Day Weekend, revelers exchanged Bourbon-themed gifts, won raffle prizes and, as always, enjoyed a bountiful Sicilian repast.

We honored the fallen on both sides with prayers and toasts. Viva 'o Rre!

Carciofi fritti

Arancini

Milinciani fritta (breaded eggplant, roasted peppers and mozzarella)

Pizza

Cavatelli with sausage, broccoli and pignoli

Braciola di maiale al forno

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Raffle prizes included artisanal soaps from Casa Amalfi and
a tie with the coat-of-arms of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

Artisanal soaps, fleur-de-lis placemats and repurposed Argenio watch boxes with King Carlo di Borbone filled with various Kingdom of the Two Sicilies lapel pins