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Just when we were preparing to write about him, Anthony Riccio left us. He left us at just 69 years old, all of a sudden and without a fuss, which was just his style. Anthony had become a photographer as a child, developing photographic negatives in his house’s bathroom in New Haven, Connecticut. For his whole life, he worked as a librarian at Yale...

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Tucked away on a dead-end road in Hamden is what may very well be the center of Connecticut’s Italian cheese universe. The Liuzzi family started making cheese back in Italy in 1832. They brought that expertise to America in the middle of the 20th century, and they’ve been making it under the Liuzzi Cheese label since 1981. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (...

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It was Mrs. Sargent’s admiration for the Italian work ethic that encouraged Sargent & Co. to recruit Italian men to come to New Haven to work for the hardware manufacturer. When the immigrants arrived in New Haven from Ellis Island, those who were conscripted to work at Sargent, which was located on Water Street in a large multibuilding complex, we...

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After 15 years, Cafe Amici will leave its corner storefront in Spring Glen for a larger space, but it won’t be moving far. The owners of the Italian restaurant, which opened at 1670 Whitney Ave. in 2007, hope to complete the move to 1640 Whitney Ave. by mid-March. They also will keep their current space, where they plan to open a new restaurant wit...

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Rob Maffucci is a happy man. He’s cooking every day at his new takeout-only Vito’s Pizza in Berlin. He smiles and laughs as he prepares his mother’s traditional Italian recipes in the compact kitchen. Memories of his earlier life can be seen in the café. Newspaper and magazine clippings tell of his 25-year status as one of the most beloved restaura...

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The West Haven community and beyond is mourning the death of Aniello Cappetta, the founder of Cappetta's Italian Imports Pizza and Catering. He was 73. The family announced Cappeta's death in a post on the eatery's Facebook page on Monday. "It is with great sadness that we tell you about the passing of our founder Aniello Cappetta," the post reads....

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It was December 1947, just days before New Year’s Eve. Twenty-one-year-old Anthony “Tony” Gillistro had just come home from the Marine Corps and was paying his childhood friend William Manocchio a visit on Standish Street, their old neighborhood in Wethersfield, Conn. “The guys were getting together for a New Year’s Eve party. We all just came home...

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Nardelli's Grinder Shoppe is expecting to open its new location in Norwalk soon. The new deli, which will be located at 345 Main Ave., is expected to open in March, Nardelli’s co-owner and franchiser Marco Nardelli said. It was originally planned to be opened in December 2021, but Nardelli said that the opening was delayed due to the pandemic and s...

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With neon signs, smoking cocktails and two living walls with thousands of plants, Via in New Haven isn't your nonna's Italian restaurant. The gastrobar, which opened on Crown Street in October, specializes in Italian-influenced street food and small plates — and offers plenty of Instagram material, between its graffitied restroom hallway, drinks wi...

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Cristoforo Colombo was always aloft on his pedestal, looking out toward the harbor and sea, to catch the next ship and to sail off to his next conquest. His replacement – the Italian, or perhaps universal, immigrant family – will have come from the sea, from far away, and to stay, to put down roots and to begin their American success stories. That’...

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