Junior's Rustico Is Coming to Burlington
by Alice Levitt In September, few traces will remain of the Shelburne Road KFC. The fast-food counter and plastic tables where the ghost of Colonel Sanders once flitted will be replaced by a brick interior and 25-foot maple bar. Fountain drinks will give way to 15 local microbrews on tap, plus Vermont liquors and wines. The man be...
Restaurant review: Mel's Restaurant in Holyoke
by Fran Bellamy Mel's is one of those restaurants that patrons of a certain age particularly enjoy. The experience isn't about cutting edge cuisine or high-concept decor; instead Mel's is a place where fond memories can be found on the menu. A Holyoke tradition since the late 1920s, Mel's occupies a converted residence in that cit...
Traditional Italian sauces start in a New Hampshire field
By Lisa Zwirn David and Michelle Valicenti's business started with a bumper crop of tomatoes that David turned into sauce. His family, originally from Italy's Basilicata region ("the arch of the foot," he says), calls it red gravy. "We went to a local fair and sold out in two weekends," he says. Today, the seven-year-old Valicenti...
The Nephew's Italian/American Kitchen
by Dan Pires To me, The Nephew's Italian/American Kitchen, better known as simply Nephew's, is one of the Seven Wonders of SouthCoast. And, apparently, based on the number of automobiles parked outside of Nephew's on a recent Tuesday evening, there are a whole host of other folks that concur. When we – my wife, Becky, son, Taylor, da...
The essential red sauce: The Best Sunday Gravy, Italian-American style
by John Golden Several years ago when I set out to make the perfect red sauce—or Sunday gravy, which it's often called—I knew exactly where to look. That was to my good friend Steve Quattrucci. His family has long held sway in Portland food circles amongst the Italian-American community. Or as Quattrucci relates, "Memories from my...
When cooking Italian food, it’s OK to be ‘lazy’
By Catherine Smart Francesca Montillo thinks Italian cooking is for everyone. The Calabrian native, who has lived in the Boston area for 28 years, launched her business, Lazy Italian Culinary Adventures, last year to help the most novice cooks enjoy a taste of her homeland. She started teaching classes at adult education centers in Brookl...
Eataly’s COO on creating an 'Italian village' on Boylston Street
Eataly, a 45,000-square-foot Italian marketplace, will open on three levels of what used to be the Prudential Center food court on Nov. 29. I caught up with Alex Saper, Eataly's managing partner and chief operating officer, to discuss creating an old-style European market and why Eataly chose Boston's Back Bay. For those who have never see...
A New Italian Restaurant With a Courtyard Patio & Sidewalk Seating Is Coming to the South End
by Marion White More Italian is heading for Boston's South End neighborhood! Owners James Cochener and Michael Moxley of The Salty Pig, Coda Kitchen + Bar and Canary Square announced today that they'll be opening a new restaurant concept in the South End with chefs Kevin O'Donnell and Michael Lombardi. According to a release, the...
That's Lunch: Michael T's offers plentiful portions of Italian-American favorites
This week's food review is about Michael T's Restaurant at 8390 Seneca Turnpike in New Hartford.Reporter Alissa Scott and copy editor Alex Caldas ate there recently and had this to say: About the Restaurant: Michael T's has been a local, family-owned Italian restaurant in New Hartford since 1983. The eatery offers a fully stocked bar, tables and c...
Italian Cooking Class
Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning is offering 'The Art of Cooking Italian Food' on Thursday, November 14, as part of its popular Culinary Series. Teresa Galli, raised in Rome, Italy and now a resident of Tuscany, will share her passion for cooking, an endeavor which she looks upon as an art. Teresa regularly holds classes in Italy and he...
Foundation in Maine helping Italian farm flourish
In recent years, Maine has seen a resurgence in people interested in where their food comes from, paying a premium for products grown locally in a sustainable manner. Just as that movement has grown, some people in Italy have become more removed from the locally grown market with a surge in popularity of supermarkets. "Encouraging small, d...
New Deal Fruit, Old School Vibes
by Elise Balzotti "There is nothing better than working with family," says Yano Petruzzelli, who owns and operates the New Deal Fruit Company located in Revere, Massachusetts, along with his two brothers, Nicholas and Domenic Petruzzelli. The New Deal Fruit Company, which can be categorized as a hybrid produce market, Italian spec...