Guy Fieri Raised $21.5M for Restaurant Workers, Praised for Doing 'More Than Congress'
Food Network host Guy Fieri worked to raise more than $21.5 million in seven weeks to help unemployed restaurant workers, prompting many to praise him for "doing more than Congress" to assist struggling hospitality employees during the pandemic. The longtime TV host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives made personal pleas with large corporate sponsors, i...
Italian American WWII Hero: John F. Tipa
John F. Tipa was the son of Sicilian immigrants. His parents, Giuseppe and Vincenza Tipa, emigrated from Piazza San Lorenza, Palermo, Italy to New York City where they settled in Little Italy, The Bronx, in 1910. Tipa was ordered to active duty with his unit, 212th Coast Artillery New York Army National Guard headquartered in Manhattan, N.Y. During...
Once Again, Dominick the Donkey Lifts the Curtain on Lou Monte’s Legacy
Chingedy ching. Hee haw, hee haw!” Some years it starts as early as November. Right when the temperature drops below 40 degrees, when the leaves die, when the grass gets cold and hard, people begin to ask me, “Dominick? Like ‘Dominick the Donkey’? Have you ever heard the song?” My name is Dominick, so of course I’ve heard the song. Whether I like i...
ISDA Celebrates 90 Years of Italian American Growth and Pride
It all began in the 1920s when Pittsburgh’s Italian immigrants started forming lodges so members would be able to help one another in times of need. With no government programs to assist people when the bread winner unexpectedly lost a job, or worse yet died, the immigrants could only look to one another for help. The meager dues the immigrants wer...
Enel Green Power, NextChem planning green hydrogen project in US
Enel Green Power North America Inc (EGPNA) and NextChem, the green chemistry subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont SpA (BIT:MT), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will give rise to a green hydrogen project in the US. EGPNA, the renewables division of Italian utility group Enel SpA, plans to set up an electrolyser at one its solar farms i...
Italian American WWII Hero: Bernard Allegretti
To remember the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, NIAF is recognizing Italian Americans who sacrificed, served and defended peace, freedom and democracy during the war. This entry is a special submission from Joanna Allegretti in honor of her grandfather. Bernard Allegretti was born and raised in Trenton, N.J. His parents emigrated from...
Feast of the Seven Fishes: 13 Italian seafood recipes for Christmas Eve
Many Italian Americans celebrate Christmas Eve with a big family feast teeming with savory seafood stews, chilled shellfish, rich pastas and gorgeous baked fish. The multi-course meal from la mare is known as the Feast of Seven Fishes or Feste dei Sette Pesce. The tradition's origin story is obscure, but what's clear is that many Italian Americans,...
CRISTINA FONTANELLI'S CHRISTMAS IN ITALY Available to Stream Online
Over the past 17 years, tens of thousands of fans have experienced Cristina Fontanelli's Christmas in Italy, a musical journey through popular Italian songs, arias, Christmas classics and dance, in New York City. This year, the award-winning singer, actress and PBS-TV host, decided to share this joyous concert - far and wide - to fill even more hea...
Capri, Hollywood Film Fest: Sophia Loren-Starrer 'The Life Ahead' to Receive Humanitarian Award
The Life Ahead, a new Italian film which features an awards-contending performance by the legendary Sophia Loren, will be feted with the Capri, Hollywood — The International Film Festival's Humanitarian Award, the fest announced Tuesday. The fest's 25th — and first virtual — edition will run from Dec. 26 through Jan. 2. Loren, 86, had not appeared...
IAP 170: The Italian American Podcast’s 2020 Christmas musical revue
Since this is the final episode before the Feast of the Seven Fishes and Christmas arrive in earnest, we’re sending you into the holiday in style with our Italian American Christmas Musical Revue! As many of us will be celebrating a more sedate version of our favorite holiday this year because many families are kept apart in these unprecedented cir...
Seven classic films to watch for an Italian Christmas
Let's just get this out of the way, shall we: this 1983 farce is the original cinepanettone or 'cinematic Christmas cake', the name given to a particular genre of Italian Christmas comedy that's every bit as sugary, festive and familiar as a loaf of panettone. They're less Hallmark romcom, more Carry On lm, with visual gags, double entendres and q...
Love, 'Moonstruck' Tells Us, Is the Triumph of Illogic
It's not much discussed today, but the 1980s was a lesser golden age for American romantic comedies. There's a strong case to be made that Norman Jewison's Moonstruck (1987)—featuring an effortlessly charming star turn from Cher, an early glimpse at Nicolas Cage's idiosyncratic wiles, and pitch-perfect backup from Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, Vin...