Best Italian restaurant in CNY: See the finalists, vote for the winner
Italian food is serious business in Central New York, where the options to dine are rivaled only by the level of loyalty and rivalry diners have to their restaurant of choice. We were searching for our Final Four--the four finalists that our judges would visit and rate and you, the reader, would vote on to determine the readers' choice winner. We t...
Paolo Uccello's counter-clockwise lock in Florence
In 1443, Paolo Uccello – a Tuscan painter and mosaic artist who played a major role in Florence’s 15th-century art scene – painted the face of the clock on the counter-façade of the Florence Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore. He included four heads colored in fresco at the corners, as Vasari wrote, whose identity is still the object of debate amongs...
Family keeps Del Rio going for 95 years
Del Rio, a near-century-old Highwood dining tradition, was originally inspired by Dolores Del Rio, the dazzlingly beautiful Mexican actress who became Latin America’s first crossover Hollywood star in the 1920s. During that era, when Latin was all the rage, Del Rio, in Highwood, was a dance hall. After a couple of months, the owner sold it to an It...
Prime 1024, steakhouse with Italian cuisine, slated to open in Roslyn
Prime 1024, a major steakhouse that also will serve Italian fare, is slated to open on Saturday in Roslyn. The opulent establishment takes over the former site of Barto on Northern Boulevard, Nassau's main artery for devotees of red meat. "We will be open every day for dinner," said owner Christos Spyropoulos, who also is a partner in Limani in Ros...
Godfather of Gore: The 5 Most Influential Lucio Fulci Horror Films
Herschell Gordon Lewis earned the moniker “godfather of gore” in the early ‘60s when he created the splatter subgenre in horror with Blood Feast. But it didn’t take long before another director would earn and share the title; Italian maestro Lucio Fulci. Fulci began his film career as a documentary director before switching gears and shifting into...
Francis, Frederick and the Rocca Maggiore in Assisi
In 1198, when the people of Assisi revolted against the Emperor who had ruled over them since 1173 and plundered the city’s fortress, Saint Francis was sixteen years old and Frederick II was only four. At that moment, the future emperor – who would be crowned in Rome by Pope Honorius III in 1220 – lived in Assisi with his mother Constance, Queen of...
Anthony’s Italian Eats Brings Delectable Comfort Food to Clayton
It was time for Anthony Gianino to get his own place. Growing up in the restaurant business, toiling away at his family's many properties, he'd seen them named after just about everyone. Bill Gianino's and Billy G's are his dad's namesakes; Frankie Gianino's and Frankie G's are named for his grandfather. Even his longtime friend and business partne...
Botteghiamo, Rome and the soul of Italian heritage
Today, I feel like to write about Rome and Italian heritage, but for once - our regular readers may be aware of my penchant for classical history - I won’t delve into the depths and beauties of the Empire, but focus on the Rome of today. At least in part, let us say. Our breathtaking capital has been going through a bit of a rough patch, as many of...
New short film with Winchester’s Luke Macannuco explores bullying, masculinity, family dynamics
Two years ago Joe LaRocca, film director and instructor at Boston College, had finished the script and cast most of the actors for his short film, except one. LaRocca struggled finding the right actor for the lead character Robert, a high school teenager who is pressured by older classmates to set off a smoke grenade in the school’s bathroom. An id...
Little Italy loses bid for status as a town
The Pulaski County community of Little Italy on Wednesday lost its appeal of a lower-court judge's dismissal of a case in which area residents sought the creation of an incorporated town. The community of about 350 people, near Roland, has sought for years to become incorporated. In early 2016, County Judge Barry Hyde rejected the residents' petiti...
In Verona, Tourists’ Love Letters Deface Juliet’s House and Entire Street
Two million tourists arrive in Verona every year, to visit the city eternally linked to Romeo and Juliet’s impossible love. Couples head to Juliet’s House to kiss, take a selfie and write their names, often circled by big hearts, on the walls of the courtyard. Others leave post-it notes and messages, which sometimes stick to the wall with chewing...
Time to Play Tombola!
When I was a young girl living in Italy, I particularly loved the holiday season that brought back delicious munchies such as torrone (Italian nougat), panettone (Italian Christmas cake), pepatelli (almond and honey biscotti), and the money that my nonno Antonio always handed me when arriving at our house. Most of all, it signified that time had co...