Carmela Cataldo has a bright future in pizza competition
Carmela Cataldo is straightforward about how she did at the Pizza Pizzazz. “I didn’t win,” she said. “I got fourth place.” But there’s more to the story. Cataldo, best known as “Carmie,” is 16 years old. She was the youngest of the 45 competitors. It was her first competition. She missed third place and a cash prize by a point (though the Cataldos...
Trivia Night Italian-Style with special guest Carla Gambescia
Tuesday 3/26/2019 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM. Eataly Chicago - 43 E Ohio St, Chicago, IL 60611 Join us for special evening of fun: a Trivia Challenge for those who love Italy and its astonishing culture and cuisine. We welcome Carla Gambescia, author of La Dolce Vita University: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture from A to Z, a unique compendium of...
February Foodie: Francesca Pizzi
When Francesca Pizzi lamented the dearth of Italian restaurants in downtown Indy, her father, restaurateur Gino Pizzi, offered her some sage advice: “Why don’t you open one yourself?” As is so often true, father knows best. While Francesca has no formal culinary training, she grew up doing homework and taking naps inside her family’s beloved Broad...
Family recipes fuel the food at Mamma Onesta’s in Lockport
With a moniker like Mamma Onesta’s Italian Restaurant, it might not surprise people that the historic downtown Lockport establishment focuses on family. “‘Mamma Onesta’ means honest mother in Italian. It’s named after my honest, hardworking mother. Being Italian I love to eat Italian food and love to cook. My mom is a great cook,” said Frank DeGras...
Elio Pizza adds Sicilian street food to menu
Street food has been a staple of cuisines around the world for generations, and the trend has finally reached American shores. Leading the charge on behalf of the street food of Sicily is Elio Bartolotta of Elio Pizza on Fire and Elio Café. “Sicilian street food represents our tradition, our roots, our soul,” Bartolotta says. “We want to share that...
Dalla Calabria alla conquista dell'America. Il successo dei ''Nduja Brothers'
Il sapore di casa. La cucina internazionale negli ultimi anni ha scoperto la ‘nduja e se ne è perdutamente innamorata. Celeberrima pietanza calabrese piccante, la ‘nduja nel 2016 ha ottenuto un boom soprattutto a Londra e New York. “Sta bene con tutto, dalla burrata ai crostacei alla pizza, e si abbina bene alla pasta. È come se fosse un olio picc...
She was a Navy nurse overseas, dining with an 'Italian Mom.' Now she runs a cooking school
Her 24 years as a Navy nurse taught Pam Dennis many things. Leadership. Organization. Attention to detail. The value of nurturing. And oh, yes — skills in the kitchen. The Navy itself had nothing to do with that. But while stationed in the port city of Pozzuoli in southern Italy, a 20-something Dennis made fast friends with a fellow apartment dwell...
Take a sneak peek at new Andiamo restaurant opening in Fenton
Workers and ownership scurried around the new Andiamo Restaurant Monday afternoon putting the finishing touches on a multi-million dollar project that has been in the works for months. Located in the three-story Horizon Building at 102 West Silver Lake Road, Suite 1, the Italian eatery is set to open Wednesday, Feb. 6. Dominic Vicari, an operating...
Santino's Little Italy is a Bay View pearl
The film Moonstruck could not be a more appropriate choice for a starry, frigid-though-windless night at the shadowy Bay View hideaway Santino’s Little Italy. On the flat screen TVs, that is. Cher and Nicolas Cage (with a wooden hand!) make googly eyes at each other amid the backdrop of Brooklyn Heights brownstones. Sadly, the Puccini-et-al soundtr...
Here’s How To Get Free Nutella on World Nutella Day
Wedged somewhere between New Year's and Valentine's Day is a very special but little-known holiday. Feb. 5, 2019 marks the 12th annual World Nutella Day and if you're a fan of the chocolatey-hazelnut concoction you might be excited to know that there are ways to score some free Nutella to celebrate this sweet holiday. Here's how to get free Nutella...
Iozzo’s Garden of Italy brings family legacy, Old World Italy to Indy
As a self-proclaimed connoisseur of all things pasta, I’m always on the lookout for a true Italian restaurant that moves the needle. Such a place exists on the near south side of Indy that not only moves the needle, but cranks the volume up to eleven (that’s a This is Spinal Tap reference for you non-movie geeks). Iozzo’s Garden of Italy is locate...
Meet Chef Alessio Vullo of Nando Milano
Alessio Vullo, the executive chef at Nando Milano, was needless of introduction. Having never seen the man, I caught him walking by the kitchen door in his dark chef coat abound by an air of comfort and work. "That’s the chef," I thought. In the past year, Nando Milano has become the first place I’d recommend to visiting gourmands who look for goo...