Italian filmmaker Wilma Labate to come to IU Cinema Wednesday
Italian film writer and director Wilma Labate will speak at the IU Cinema starting Wednesday, accompanying screenings of her films. The visit is part of the cinema’s 10th annual “New Trends in Modern and Contemporary Italian Cinema” series. The series is organized by the IU Department of French and Italian. Labate made her first film “Ambrogio” in...
Whitewater gets a slice of little Italy
Whitewater’s Main Street business district made room for a slice of Little Italy when New Yorker Benny Spahiu brought his talents to Wisconsin. His success in New York pushed him to try to find more markets where pizza by the slice would be profitable, which led him to open La Piazza Pizzeria in Whitewater this March. The restaurant is open Wednesd...
Omar Caputi - Organ Recital
Sunday, April 28th at 3:00pm. St. John Cantius Church, 825 N. Carpenter St. Chicago, IL. This concert is sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago. Omar Caputi is the Titular Organist of the most prestigious organ in Italy, the four-keyboard mechanical organ made by the Zanin company and located in the St. Ritas Sanctuary in Turin, Art...
Original Italian Dinner celebrates a 100+ year old tradition
A different kind of tradition unlike any other continues today in Camp Washington. The Original Italian Dinner only happens twice a year. The tradition, started by Italian immigrants, began more than 100 years ago at Sacred Heart Church on Massachusetts Ave. They use old world recipes to make delicious ravioli, meatballs, and other items. So much f...
An Ex-Engineer Turned Chef Promises Traditional Italian Cooking in River North
Chicago has plenty of Italian restaurants, but Bill Varley feels his new offering, Torchio Pasta Bar, will find a niche in River North. Varley and his crews have gutted the former Karyn’s Cooked, 738 N. Wells Street, to make room for their new endeavor. Varley’s a first-time restaurant owner who retired from his life as an engineer and executive la...
Columbian Club honors LaPata
The Rev. Richard LaPata was praised for 20 years of service to the Columbian Club of Chicago at the organization’s installation gala in January. First Vice President Mark Corrado delivered the following remarks before calling Fr. LaPata to the podium to accept an award: “Fr. LaPata came to know the Dominicans as a student at Fenwick High School in...
Sara’s Artisan Gelato now open in Ashwaubenon
What started as a childhood dream has turned into a passionate profession for a young Green Bay woman. Sara Santaga, 23, opened Sara’s Artisan Gelato on Anderson Drive in Ashwaubenon about a month ago, and so far, it’s even more than she hoped it would be. “Business has been awesome,” Santaga said. “I’ve been getting increasingly busier. I’ve been...
Meet Donny Greco: chef, singer and everybody's friend
Since opening in January of 2019 Donny G's Ristorante and Bar has been offering traditional Italian specialties in a welcoming environment with more than a a few songs on the side. A local in the truest sense, Donny Greco grew up in the Elmwood Park area before finding his way to Chicago to make a name for himself in the restaurant world. "I was pr...
Addio, Joe Salerno
For decades, Joseph Salerno served as a source of comfort for thousands of families and friends throughout the suburbs. In March, those family, friends and peers remembered and celebrated the 78-year-old funeral director who served as CEO of Salerno’s Rosedale in Roselle and Galewood Chapels in Chicago. In the early 1960s, Salerno entered the famil...
Art History of Florence, Rome, and Venice
Have you ever dreamed of wandering through Florence, Rome & Venice in one day? Are you ready to live the magic of the Italian beauty in a Spring afternoon? The next classes that Rosa has prepared are going to make those dreams true. You will stroll through streets and museums that are in the most important Italian cities. You will visit Museums &...
5 questions for Milwaukee banjo-slinger Michael Rossetto
If you're looking for an banjo-slinging Italian, look no further than Milwaukee's own Michael Rossetto, whose new CD, "Intermodal Blues," is out now on Minneapolis-based Shifting Paradigm Records. The nine songs on the record are genre-busting, with hints of Americana, Italian folk music, Spaghetti Western vibes, bluegrass and even rhythms that con...
Italy-Based Centro Sperimentale del Latte USA Plans Production Center in Wisconsin
Centro Sperimentale del Latte USA Inc., a probiotic company, plans to establish its first operations in the U.S. with a manufacturing facility in Franksville, Wisconsin. The investment is part of a multimillion-dollar project expected to create up to 31 jobs over the next four years.PROBIO RE LLC, Centro Sperimentale del Latte’s related entity, rec...