Is Utica The Best Italian Food City In New York State? Thoughts?

Ok, we are getting into tricky territory here.  It always happens when we talk about food.  It is such a personal topic.  Upstate New York has more fine restaurants than we can shake a spatula at.  And I have had my share of epic meals.

But this gallery is about Italian restaurants.  What city would you pick for the best Italian food city in the state?  Well, New York City is unrivaled, so lets keep it Upstate.

I have always believed that Utica, New York is a far underrated city when it comes to Italian food.  I have had lasagna in Los Angles, gnocchi in New Orleans, deep dish pizza pie in Chicago, and tiramisu in St. Louis.  And too many other great Italian meals across the country.  Plus my mother made a pretty fantastic spaghetti sauce herself.

I wrote a best-selling book about the foods of Upstate New York once ("A Taste of Upstate New York"; Syracuse University Press).  I will have to admit, whenever I got the chance to write about Italian foods in that book it was my pleasure!

Also, many years ago I wrote about Schenectady, NY being one of the greatest food cities in the state, and boy did that create an exciting buzz in the electric City.  See the story here.

But, now I turn my attention to the Utica area and to its great Italian foods.  I offer up this gallery of ten delicious samples as evidence.

What do you think?