Dining at Rocca is like a quick trip to Italy
Rocca offers warm and welcoming hospitality paired with views of the Tampa skyline in an elegant setting in The Heights District. Chef Bryce Bonsack's handmade pasta-focused menu features Italian fare using seasonal ingredients as its inspiration. Chef Bryce Executive Chef/ partner has returned to his roots in Tampa after years of honing his skills...
Visiting Italian chef helps design food for Ravello in Montgomery
A visiting Italian senator had a request for Montgomery’s latest downtown restaurant: Skip the sauces. Keep it simple. Just traditional Italian food. Sen. Massimo Mallegni brought along some help to make that happen. Chef Gianluca Tolla, who won a culinary contest in Tuscany, came here to work with Vintage Year and Ravello chef Eric Rivera on techn...
Mozzarella Fellas: Traditional Italian, and then some
Behind every great Italian restaurant, there is an Italian grandmother or two. Brian Ricciardi, chef and owner of Mozzarella Fellas in Winston-Salem, was taught everything he knows right in his own kitchen growing up. “As much as the food matters, it’s really something more” Brian says. “Good is good, right?”. There is a very special feeling surrou...
Tour the taste of Italy at Mariana’s The Stinky Rose
Thomas Flaherty segued from patrolling the highways for the Seminole Indian Tribe Police Department to perfecting pizzas and other tasty Italian dishes at Mariana’s The Stinky Rose Restaurant. The former law enforcement office in Collier County for 25 years and in Citrus County before that, assumed ownership of the restaurant in the Shoppes of Citr...
Casa D’ Angelo Boca Raton: Italian Excellence at Angelo’s House
For over two decades, Casa D’ Angelo in Ft. Lauderdale has stood amongst the elite echelon of top restaurants (and arguably THE best Italian restaurant) in Broward County, under Chef / Owner Angelo Elia. Chef Angelo grew up in Salerno, Italy, where he learned authentic Italian cooking the real way – in his mother’s kitchen. Here, along with his f...
With Due Amici, College Park adds another new Italian restaurant to the mix
Due Amici, the Ybor City pizza and pasta stalwart, made headlines in late 2016 when owner Genti Bunjaku – an avid Trump supporter – created a garish victory pie embellished with gold leaf shaped into a "T" and – try not to cackle – Russian caviar. Now the Albanian-born restaurateur is expanding his reach by opening an outpost in College Park and, I...
Chefs Of Napoli Brings Neapolitan Cuisine To New Tampa
The Chefs of Napoli has opened its first Tampa location at 10920 Cross Creek Blvd. in the Cross Creek Publix shopping center. "Food is part of the very fabric of Neapolitan society. Many Americans' favorite Italian dishes have their roots in Naples, including pizza," said managing partner Jeanne DeLuca. "Chefs of Napoli is thrilled to be able to br...
Roberto’s Ristorante and Pizzeria serves authentic Italian cuisine
When a new restaurant opens its doors in The Villages, it will immediately draw the curious. So when Roberto’s Ristorante and Pizzeria opened July 25 at Pinellas Plaza, it was no surprise to see long lines out front. Owner Roberto Manco’s reputation had preceded him before he opened his own eatery. He had worked for years as executive chef at his b...
This new Tampa Heights restaurant is a ‘love letter’ to one Italian family
After returning home from the kitchens of New York determined to open his own restaurant, Tampa native Bryce Bonsack traveled to Italy’s Piedmont region to do some soul searching. But Bonsack was on another mission, too. If he wanted his place to focus on pasta, which he mastered while leading pasta production and cooking pasta courses as a sous ch...
Chill Out! Rita's Italian Ice Will Open Four South Florida Locations
Sure, Miami may be an unexpected mecca for ice cream, but what about Italian ice? This smooth, southern European take on the snow cone is what gelato is to American ice cream. Brought to America by Italian immigrants, the many-flavored concoction is also about to get much more accessible in the Magic City. The Philadelphia-based chain Rita's Italia...
Acclaimed Italian Pizza Maker Gino Sorbillo Brings Neapolitan Pies to South Beach
One of Italy’s most beloved pizza makers, Gino Sorbillo, is bringing his fan favorite pies to South Beach starting Wednesday, October 30, with the debut of Sorbillo Pizza (100 Collins Avenue). Frequently touted as one of the most famous pizzaiolos in Italy, he has set on a worldwide expansion of sorts in the past few years. With eight eateries in I...
This upscale Italian spot is a hit in Boca and Fort Lauderdale. Now it’s open in Aventura
There’s a new place for pasta in Aventura. The 5,600-square-foot Casa D’Angelo, an Italian favorite in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and the Bahamas, is now open in the ParkSquare development. Chef Angelo Elia uses fresh ingredients to make all the Italian classics, and of course pasta isn’t the only choice. But let’s be real: the pasta dishes are sw...