Carlino’s in Ardmore on Christmas Eve is a madhouse of Italian-grandmother food and love
It isn’t even Christmas Eve yet — that’s when police will be outside directing traffic to contain the cannoli chaos. But Laura Carlino and her crew are racing like elves on deadline. “The bakers,” she says, as I pull her from behind a counter at Carlino’s Market a few days ago, "they’ve been here since Jerry started at 8 p.m. last night. The othe...
'Dominick the Donkey' has roots in New Jersey
The year was 1960. John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for president, and the civil rights movement was gaining traction. Frankie Avalon, Elvis Presley and The Drifters topped the charts. And a crooner from Bergen County released a novelty Christmas song about a donkey that, nearly six decades later, remains a love-it-or-hate-it holiday earworm...
Rome and Stories of the Festivities
Speaking of Rome, and seeing that we are in the Christmas holiday season, let us turn to the subject of Roman festivities. It is well known that the ancient Romans, who dominated the world, liked to enjoy themselves and were certainly not averse to amusement, the more so because they observed a religion that was all but monotheistic, involving inst...
Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices and Ice Cream to open in Westfield, NJ
The news is out: Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices and Ice Cream in Kenilworth, has closed. Fortunately, a new Ralph’s is set to open in Westfield spring 2020! The new shop at 524 Central Avenue boasts an outdoor seating area and ample free parking. There, you'll find the same favorites fans of Ralph’s have grown to love, including Italian water ice, cre...
Embracing Mexican traditions in a church founded for Italian immigrants
Call it an American melting pot – or posole, a traditional Mexican soup, or cioppino, an Italian fisherman’s stew – Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx welcomes worshippers from more than a dozen nations. “You have people from almost every country living here: from Albania, Nigeria, Latin America,” said Rev. Fr....
The Basilica Palladiana’s modern Renaissance
Vicenza is a city rich in stunning historic architecture, but it all pales in comparison to the Basilica Palladiana, which looms over the Piazza dei Signori and has served as the city’s literal and figurative heart for hundreds of years. “The building we call the Basilica began as the so-called Palace of Reason, the former seat of the civil authori...
This Italian Spirit Is Perfect for Holiday Drinking
Back before the American renaissance of amaro and digestifs made the after-dinner drinks de rigueur, Samantha Kincaid and Jon Nodler would finish a meal at their favorite restaurant with a little glass of house-made nocino. Years later, using walnuts they handpicked from a nearby farm, the celebrated chefs made their own big batch of the liqueur, w...
Lucio Fontana's Visionary 'Spatial Environments' to Take Over LA's Hauser & Wirth
Next year, the first comprehensive presentation of Lucio Fontana’s work will be debuted in the U.S. at Hauser & Wirth’s Los Angeles gallery. Entitled “Walking the Space: Spatial Environments, 1948 – 1968,” the exhibition will showcase the Argentine-Italian artist’s groundbreaking work that was influenced by his interest in science and aerospace dis...
Getting to know Piedmont
Piedmont, land of stupendous mountains and great lakes, is one of the cradles of Italian culture. It is the birthplace of or highly influential on many of the leading figures in the history of Italian modern thought, and Turin was the first Capital of Unified Italy. Visiting Piedmont is exciting at any time of year: in the Winter, you can enjoy the...
How good was San Diego’s Italian food in 2019? Our Top 10 restaurant list finally has 10 on it!
If 2019 was a banner year for dining in San Diego, it will also go down as the turning point for truly high-quality Italian food, thanks to three new exciting, first-rate eateries, Cesarina, Siamo Napoli and Il Dandy, and its fine dining restaurant-within-a-restaurant, Arama. The number three is key because on Oct. 18, 2018, the Union-Tribune publi...
“Adoration of the Shepherds” by Giorgione at the National Gallery of Art
One of the most delightful things to do around the holidays is to visit an art museum and look at a few of the paintings that tell the stories we commemorate on these days. Over the past 20 years, I’ve enjoyed taking such tours. In my experience, by far the most popular and satisfying would be “The Christmas Story in Art” tour that the National Gal...
This secret Italian village has the most charming olive oil harvest
The night before I'm due to leave the crowds of Rome behind, I am in a room full of Italian lawyers, none of whom had ever heard of Pico – my next destination – despite it being less than an hour away by car. Granted, there are many small Italian villages dotting the boot-shaped peninsula where you can slip away from the masses and enjoy an authent...