Every morning around 10:30, Charlie Gitto arrives at the downtown restaurant that bears his name, gets a cup of coffee from the bartender and settles into his designated spot at the corner of the bar — the best seat in the house, if you ask him."This is my office," Gitto explains. "I can see the entire restaurant, and who comes in and who goes out....

You are cordially invited to the 20th Annivesary celebration of Club Italiano Per Piacere, on Wednesday, June 5th at Pan D'Olive Restaurant (1603 McCausland Ave, St. Louis, MO 63117). Italiano Per Piacere is the only Italian speaking club in the Midwest. On this occasion the Italian Community will also celebrate the Festa della Repubblica with Vice...

After 16 years — and the recent loss of its state liquor license — Aristo’s Greek Restaurant in east Salt Lake City has closed for good. The loss of the Mediterranean restaurant near the University of Utah at the end of April follows the January shutdown of the beloved French-inspired Paris Bistro on the corner of 1500 South and 1500 East. While...

The St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities Organization was honored to have participated in the 200th anniversary celebration of the collaboration between the US and Italian governments in Bologna on May 14th 2019. The St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities was re-founded in October of 2017 and is under the jurisdiction of the World Trade Center - St Louis, fu...

With enthusiasm and an infectious smile, Adolfo Affatato approached the microphone at St. Ambrose Church in the Hill neighborhood of south St. Louis.  “Good morning. I don’t speak English,” he said in English looking out at a full church on a Thursday morning. He did what he could in an opening statement, addressing the crowd as “my dear friends, m...

Opera180 of Kansas City concludes its 1st season with the classic La Boh'me, with music by Giacomo Pucciniand libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Performances are May 30, 31, and June 1 at The Drawing Room by Weinberger Fine Art at 1903 Wyandotte in downtown Kansas City. The production will be sung in Italian. Opera180 produces its first...

So we were shooting this week's Frank’s Food Picks at John Mineo’s, and I was looking at all of these wonderful pictures. Then I saw this picture of 45-year-old John Mineo Senior. I swear, I thought I was looking at a picture of a 45-year-old Frank Cusumano Senior, my dad.  Carbon copy. I felt like I was looking at my own family. The mother, Anna,...

Relics of St. Pio, better known as Padre Pio, have been touring in the Americas for the past two years, venerated by more than 500,000 faithful Catholics. They will visit Kansas City’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception May 15. The relics — Padre Pio’s glove, crusts of his wounds, cotton gauze with blood stains, a lock of his hair, his mantle a...