NEWS FROM : Food & Wine  

Fine Italian restaurants are a reflection of the heritage and training of the chef, and Basilico Trattoria in Hopewell Borough is no exception. Chef and co-owner Giuseppe "Joey" Trani was born in Princeton, and at age 6 moved with his family to their hometown on the island of Ischia, Italy, located in the Bay of Naples. He grew up and went to culin...

I finally got to try a fantastic artisan olive oil from Italy that’s now available in West Virginia, thanks to two of the Charleston sisters whose family makes it. Luisa DiTrapano and Lia DiTrapano Fairless graciously offered to share a bottle with me in exchange for my “professional” opinion. Professional or not, this stuff is fantastic. Made on t...

Medusa Pizzeria owner Ernesto Villico was grinning, though you could hardly tell because of the giant orb of fresh mozzarella he’d shoved in his mouth as a joke. He held a pizza peel with a freshly-stretched dough in his hand, had his name stitched along the back of a custom Italia soccer jersey and sported a lipstick outline on his cheek from wher...

Susan Requena grew up with a love of ravioli and Sunday family dinners at her grandmother's house. "That's what my Italian heritage revolves around. Sunday dinners. Sunday. Two o'clock at Nana's house," Requena said with a smile. "Your meatballs, your sauce, your Antipasto. Those are the things I decided to carry and wanted to pass on. Because that...

Advance tickets are now on sale for three wine tastings that will take place Saturday, Aug. 19 during the third annual Italiano! Italian Festival on Fourth Avenue in downtown Huntington. In the parking lot between the Keith-Albee and Old Village Roaster and the new Fro Yo House, will be a new wine-tasting tent that will feature three separate Ital...

Within a block of each other in the shadow of the old Florida Avenue Market — now known as Union Market — you’ll find a tale of two Italian-American food purveyors that give us a glimpse into the Washington food scene, past and present.  In a city that was derided for decades for having no culinary soul, yet is now considered at the top of the food...

Positioned on the sidewalk in front of Salumeria 2703, the A-frame sign basically serves the same function that Luther, the anger translator, did for President Barack Obama: It bluntly explains the inner workings of something opaque to many Americans. The sign clarifies — curtly, if not vociferously — that the salumeria is an “Italian deli.” Most m...

We’ve been craving Italian sandwiches lately. Maybe it’s the run of picnic-perfect weather, or the vine-ripe tomatoes we’re spotting around town. Or, most likely, because it’s just a very good sandwich. The makings of a true Italian sub — or hero or grinder or spuckie or hoagie, depending on where you’re from — are most often salami, mortadella, ca...

Vito's Italian Ristorante owners Vito and Giusy Serradella hopped around Europe before finally settling in Camp Hill. In Germany, France and Scotland, Vito apprenticed at four-star restaurants where he expanded his culinary skills. Then, a close friend who is the owner of Gambino's Hair salon in Camp Hill, told the couple the former Papa Joe's rest...

The Italian sub, laden with provolone, cold cuts such as Genoa salami and mortadella, shredded lettuce, tomato, hot peppers, and vinaigrette, is a wonderful thing—if you live in New York City or Providence or any other city with a thriving Italian-American community. In Washington, you have to work a little harder to find one. If you do, it might c...

Days after closing his two-year-old Italian restaurant in Woodley Park, chef Liam LaCivita is back in the kitchen again — this time, making glazed doughnuts and stuffed bomboloni in Georgetown. Last Sunday, LaCivita officially closed Bar Civita, the neighborhood restaurant he established after leading the Liberty Tavern-fronted family of restaurant...

Mia Margherita in Bridgeport specializes in simple, fresh Italian dishes, made from recipes handed down through generations. "It's part of my personal heritage and the areas heritage; it's a celebration of food," said Scott Duarte, owner of the pizzeria. Their star attraction is the coal fired pizza, which is made in front of customers. "That's the...