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Lake in the Hills resident Dominic Florio is ready to step out of retirement and make his mark on the Crystal Lake restaurant scene at age 73. “I decided one more time. I can only play so much golf, and I love the business,” he said. He is opening a fine-dining Italian restaurant off Randall Road called Florio’s Italian. The restaurant, at 1540 Car...

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It would not seem easy to make the tomato into a prized ingredient, but, after decades of promotion in the food media, the tomatoes of San Marzano in southern Italy have taken on a gastronomic status as having no equal anywhere when it comes to intensity of flavor, natural sweetness and a balance of acid.  For a foreign food like the tomato that wa...

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Italian cuisine’s historical roots extend back to ancient times, intertwining with the diverse cultures that have traversed the Mediterranean Sea. Through trade and conquest, these culinary practices have been shared, adapted, and refined, leading to the array of dishes we associate with Mediterranean cooking today. The key ingredients – olive oil,...

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It's not often that I can say something is the BEST. And certainly, we have some of the best restaurants in the country right here in the Garden State. As you know, I'm funny about pasta, I don't buy and try not to eat anything made with American hybridized wheat or enriched/bleached flour. It's not easy to avoid and it's certainly not the worst th...

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Husband and wife team Marco and Kathy Baldieri opened the new restaurant Mamma Italia in Sturbridge last summer, successfully combining the passions and experiences of Marco Baldieri, an executive chef who for more than 40 years has stayed true to traditional Italian (home-style) cooking. Mamma Italia Ristorante, 139 Main St. #2, occupies plaza spa...

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Lola Jacaj, formerly Sema, is days away from opening her third restaurant, Oliva. The new Warehouse District eatery joins its immediate neighbor Acqua di Dea (formerly Acqua di Luca) and Casa La Luna (formerly Luca Italian Cuisine). Following a split with chef-partner Luca Sema, the names of the restaurants were changed.Oliva (408 W. St. Clair Ave....

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In the bustling world of food innovation, one name stands out: Internicola. An Italian entrepreneur with a passion for preserving the authenticity of Italian cuisine, Internicola has embarked on a culinary journey that led him to create Primi Foods. With a deep-rooted commitment to quality and a desire to introduce Americans to the true taste of It...

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Rural Salento, the southernmost part of Italy’s “heel” that is Puglia, is not where one expects to eat vegan food.  Agriturismo Piccapane sits on the long, typically flat Pugliese road between Galatina and Cutrofiano, about 45 minutes southwest of Lecce. As far as the eye can see, this is deep olive oil country: rows upon rows of olive trees just b...

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Sometimes the strength of ideas, combined with passion, turns into disruptive and unstoppable energy. That's what happened in Barbagia for Peppeddu Palimodde and Pasqua Salis, who in the sixties began to offer the dishes of Barbagian cuisine in Oliena, under Mount Corrasi, the highest peak of the Supramonte massif. The wild nature is a strong attra...

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40 Rivington Street might be the go-to spot for New Yorkers wishing they were in Italy this summer. Soon-to-open Verace NYC will offer Neapolitan-inspired cuisine accompanied by a curated selection of Italian wines. Verace NYC is owned by business partners Joseph Esposito and Andrea Ingenito, both experienced restaurant owners. Esposito connected w...

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