Classic Hits: Rocco’s Ristorante Pizzeria
Celebrating 20 years next month, this wonderfully cluttered family-operated favorite evokes New York, Italy, and a bygone era when independent pizzerias were the heart of the community. Rocco’s thin yet sturdy and chewy, well-toasted crusts with puffy edges make the old nostalgic and the young ecstatic. On our recent visit, we went all in with pizz...
A Bright New Gelato Laboratory Churns to Life on a Tony West Hollywood Block
A novel new gelato shop is primed to take over along a busy stretch of West Hollywood soon. It’s called Gelato Festival, and just as the name implies it’s tied in with the decade-old international gelato festival founded in Florence, Italy. Gelato Festival (the event) is a near around the clock, around-the-world party, having launched over 100 even...
Biba dies at 82. Her restaurant introduced a dining renaissance with a welcoming soul
Biba Caggiano, a seminal figure in the Sacramento food scene whose midtown Italian restaurantbearing her first name put the state capital on the culinary map, died Thursday morning at her Fabulous 40s home surrounded by her children, her husband Vincent and other loved ones. Caggiano was 82 and had lived with Alzheimer’s disease in her final years....
Italian food by star chefs makes Genovese’s in Alhambra a must-try restaurant
Over the years, I’ve often driven past Genovese’s Italian Kitchen, at the extreme western edge of Main Street, just before it turns into Huntington Drive — taking a fairly obscure short cut from the Valley into the city that saves me the rigors of the freeways. Since I usually have a destination in mind, I’ve noticed its existence…and then plunged...
Large-Scale Italian Food Emporium and Eatery Arrives in the East Village
A generous helping of Italian culture has landed in the East Village on the corner of Market Street and Ninth Avenue. At 4,800-square-feet, RoVino The Foodery is San Diego’s largest Italian market; it’s aiming to be an asset to the neighborhood, featuring an all-day eatery, grab-and-go foods, and take-home ingredients as well as offering free deliv...
Little Italy Food Hall Adds Fast-Casual Pasta Component
The Little Italy Food Hall heads into its second year with a new eatery that will make its debut later this fall, joining Mein St. Asian Kitchen, Not Not Tacos by Sam the Cooking Guy, Wicked Maine Lobster, and Bobboi Natural Gelato in the space. Replacing Roast Meat & Sandwich shop in the 4,685-square-foot food emporium is a second offering from Am...
Eat Pray Love At This Naples-Born L.A. Restaurant
Naples-born, OG pizza palace, L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, is opening its doors in Los Angeles with the brand’s first-ever U.S. location. Legendary for serving up serious brick-oven margarita and marinara pies, as seen in the film, Eat Pray Love, this 150-year-old pizzeria is bringing its authentic Italian flavors to California with a reimagined m...
La Pasta Fresca Opens at Eataly L.A.
There’s a brand new fresh pasta bar in town! Join us for the opening of La Pasta Fresca, our new housemade pasta (and wine!) bar on Thursday, August 29 at Eataly L.A. On Thursday, August 29, your wildest pasta dreams will come true with the opening of La Pasta Fresca, our housemade pasta bar! The newest addition to our grab-and-go counters, La Past...
Serritella’s Italian restaurant moving across the street to Carmichael’s Milagro Centre
Serritella’s Italian restaurant, a longtime Carmichael fixture, will be moving locations starting this week – but don’t worry about being too far from your favorite. It’ll be going just across the street to the Milagro Centre. The restaurant will be closing its location at 6346 Fair Oaks Boulevard on Tuesday, but management does not yet have a re-o...
Fia opens in the former Wilshire Restaurant space
A rustic restaurant with European flair will open Monday in the space that housed Wilshire for 14 years. New owner Michael Greco has transformed the building and its spacious patio into an inviting, 300-seat villa where diners can enjoy a menu from chef Brendan Collins that blends Italian and Californian influences. Greco replaced Wilshire’s wooden...
Oceanside couple living la ‘Dolce’ vita with Italian chocolates
For 25 years, Oceanside resident Armando Chacon has worked as an IT guy, helping business workers with their computer problems. But his new side business as an importer has come with an unexpected benefit. “For the first time in my career, people now smile at me when they see me coming,” he joked. That’s because Chacon is a co-owner of Dolce Italia...
Oppi’z Italian Restaurant Opens on Santa Barbara’s State Street
Pizza with "real Italian flavor" has arrived on State Street at the site of the former Palazzio Italian restaurant. Owner Guido Oppizzi has opened Oppi'z (OH-peas) Bistro and Natural Pizza at 1026 State St. Oppizzi, who grew up in Pavia, Italy, about 20 miles south of Milan, opened the restaurant in mid-July. He says he wants to bring Santa Barbara...