New Italian restaurant opens in downtown West Monroe. See the menu here.
Luna Piena Italian Bistro opened Thursday in West Monroe. The new eatery is in the former Roma location across from Miss Kay's Sweets & Eats. Manager Kenny Gashi said he'd contracted to secure the building before COVID-19 closures affected businesses throughout the country. He said he's glad to be opened, and said they've received postie responses...
St. Joe's annual muffuletta fundraiser set for thursday
St. Joseph Catholic School’s annual muffuletta sale will not be stopped by COVID-19 this week. The sandwich fundraiser benefitting the school’s athletic department usually takes place in the spring, but this year’s was postponed. The authentic muffulettas, which from the New Orleans Central Grocery, cost $25 each and can be picked up between 11 a.m...
Taste of Italy 2020: Virtual Debut
TASTE OF ITALY 2020. Digital Hybrid Italian Food and Wine Trade Show. September 21-22 HOUSTON; September 28-29 NEW ORLEANS. Top Italian producers, regional distributors, local buyers and trade members. CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE MORE INFO. Connect with Trade Members. Interact with leading buyers, including importers, distributors, retailers, restaurateu...
Marvino’s Italian Kitchen celebrates 5 years in Cypress with anniversary special
Through the end of June, Marvino’s Italian Kitchen is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a special three-course menu at 24002 Hwy. 290, Cypress. Meals are $40 per person and include an appetizer, entree and dessert. Restaurant officials are also donating $5 from each anniversary meal purchased to local nonprofit Cy-Hope, which offers programmin...
Chic new Italian shoe store strolls into River Oaks
When Antonio Aransaenz and his wife, Valentina Sorzana Antinori were looking for a place to expand their artisan-crafted shoe brand, there was really only one city that came to mind: Houston. "My wife and I just fell in love with Houston," Aransaenz tells CultureMap. "Besides the fact that we love Texas and we love Houston and the people are frien...
Award-winning Texas winery honors its Italian heritage with 2 new vintages
Texas winery Messina Hof is putting family first. The Bryan-based winemaker has introduced its Bonarrigo Family Wines collection, a tribute to its owners’ seven generations of wine making in Sicily and America. “Our motto as a company is ‘join the family,’” Messina Hof CEO and head winemaker Paul Bonarrigo tells CultureMap. “This is a little piece...
Eataly is Coming to NorthPark
Eataly, the vibrant Italian marketplace with an array of restaurants, cafés, fresh counters, and to-go eateries, is pleased to announce that its first location in Texas will be in Dallas at NorthPark Center. Opening in 2020, Eataly Dallas will be the eighth North American location for the Italian company, which has 39 stores worldwide. “We are so e...
Enjoy Italian Fare and a Flower Shop at Fiori
IT’S NOT OFTEN YOU’RE GOING TO COME ACROSS a restaurant that’s also a flower shop, but that’s what Fiori is going for. “Conceptually we really want it to be more than a restaurant,” says Mimi MacDougall, director of visuals and marketing for Fiori, a regional Italian concept likely to open June 10 at the former La Villa space at 4315 Montrose Blvd....
52 Weeks of Pizza: Meatballs shine at Braza Brava Pizza Napoletana restaurant on Broadway
Sitting at the corner of Broadway and Sunset Road, Braza Brava Pizza Napoletana is a full-blown Italian restaurant. But the lineup of 21 specialty pizzas is the undeniable star of the show, thanks to the wood-fired pizza oven that was built in Italy and transported to San Antonio. Whether you like them with traditional red marinara or bianche (whit...
Patrenella's Italian restaurant permanently closed after 28 years of business
After 28 years of business, Patrenella's Italian Restaurant at 813 Jackson Hill St. has permanently closed. Owner Sammy Patrenella, 85, first opened the trattoria in his childhood home in 1992, eventually acquiring two adjacent properties and connecting them to expand the restaurant as well as add a residence. “My parents built the house in 1938. T...
Marco's Pizza Now open in Houston
One of the nation's Most Loved and Most Trusted Pizza Brand, Marco's Pizza, now has new location in Houston. Situated at 9540 S. Main St., Ste. 120, locals can expect a Primo Italian pizza experience that uses the freshest, highest-quality ingredients. The Marco's Pizza location is owned and operated by Donald Tran, a young entrepreneur who also ow...
Houston Italian Restaurant Turns to Technology to Bring Winemakers to Town — Virtually
The dining room closures spurred by COVID-19 prompted many Houston restaurateurs and wine bar owners to start thinking of new, creative ideas of what they could do to continue not only serving customers but expanding their culinary worlds and wine knowledge. In the case of ROMA — located in a historic home built in 1939 at 2347 University — owner S...