DeLauro to be recognized at brunch honoring Italian-American women
The National Organization of Italian American Women is honoring three women who have been leaders in their communities, paying special tribute to U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3. The Connecticut Region of the NOIAW will hold its 10th annual Epiphany brunch to honor “Three Wise Women” from Connecticut from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 13 at the New Haven L...
Staten Islanders petitioning against reality show produced by ‘Mob Wives’ star
Don’t mess with Staten Island. A petition has been started on Change.org by outraged residents of the borough over MTV’s upcoming reality show “Made in Staten Island,” which is being produced by “Mob Wives” star Karen Gravano, daughter of the former Gambino crime family’s Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. “The portrayal of Staten Island as a cesspool of ga...
Raffaele, Bisio to host Sanremo
The traditional press conference to present Italy's popular Sanremo Song Fest was held on Wednesday, where it was announced that Italian comics Virginia Raffaele and Claudio Bisio will host the 69th edition of the fest on February 5-9, together with Italian singer-songwriter Claudio Baglioni, who is serving as artistic director of the song competit...
Off the beaten track: Langhe Roero
Langhe and Roero, an area in the Cuneo province located only 70 kilometres from Turin offers a gastronomic delight that is unparalleled in the world. Though Langhe and Roero’s main draw has been food and grape beverage for years, culture, art, nature and outdoor activities are fast taking up second place. This diversification has allowed for an inc...
Bite of the Week: The Sloppy Hot Paisano at The Little Oven
If you write about food for long enough, your eyes start to adjust and you can actually start seeing the scene clearly. What was once a small constellation of bright, newly formed, trendy restaurants fades to a more tolerable level and you can begin to see all the restaurants in the state that have quietly served their diners for years or even deca...
Remembering Riccardo Giacconi: A Titan of the Heroic Age of Astronomy
Riccardo Giacconi, the “Father of X-ray Astronomy,” Nobel Prize winner and one of the most influential figures of modern astrophysics, died in December at the age of 87. Over a career spanning more than five decades in time and 10 orders of magnitude in wavelength, Riccardo opened up new windows for observing the universe, and revolutionized the wa...
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Susan Lucci
We’ve known and loved Emmy-Winning actress Susan Lucci for almost half a century now after her 41-year run on hit soap All My Children (1970-2011) playing the devious Erica Kane and starring role on Lifetime’s Devious Maids (2013-2016). Parade.com recently caught up with the still-very-active and nimble ‘Queen of Daytime TV,’ best-selling author an...
Bastianich Brings Her Memoir To Dorothea’s House Fundraiser
To her legions of fans, public television personality Lidia Matticchio Bastianich is the smiling face and comforting voice of regional Italian cooking. Watching the energetic grandmother on her show Lidia’s Kitchen; visiting her restaurants in New York City, Kansas City, Mo., and Pittsburgh, Pa.; the Eataly markets in New York, Chicago, Boston, and...
A Tuscan family adventure replete with pasta dreams and flying machines
Last year, we had some leftover airline credit on Norwegian Airlines. On the day it was set to expire, in a panic, I asked my four-year-old son, Holt, where we should go. “I love pasta!” he said. “But not with red sauce.” In retrospect, perhaps I should not have organized an entire trip around trying to prove to my four-year-old that he did, in fa...
The story behind Frank Sinatra’s $10,000 yarmulke
Last month, when Sotheby’s held a huge auction of items belonging to Frank Sinatra and his widow, Barbara, the item that made the most headlines was one of the smallest: a hand-knit yarmulke. Frank had owned it, and someone — we don’t know who — bought it for nearly $10,000. But why did Sinatra have a kippah? Where did he get it? And when? The stor...
The Civic Temple of Mary the Crowned in Lodi, tears and beauty
The Civic Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary the Crowned was built in a “lost” corner of Lodi, a suburb where love was sold for money and violent fights regularly broke out in the streets. One day in 1487, a miracle happened: a small 14th-century effigy of Mary, inside the local brothel, shed a tear for the human desolation that surrounded it, expre...
Oceanside's Rocky Marciano Lodge reopens in style
After one year and $40,000 of renovations, the Oceanside chapter of Sons of Italy reopened the Rocky Marciano Lodge in the fall. On Jan. 15, the non-profit organization will host an open house and ribbon cutting for the newly remodeled reception hall. “I think it’s one of the best-kept secrets in Oceanside,” said Joe Samoles, vice president of Sons...