by Nancy Stiles   Anthonino's Taverna (2225 Macklind Avenue; 314-773-4455) is celebrating its tenth anniversary with an upgrade. The Italian restaurant will undergo renovations over the next several weeks to expand seating and update the decor. We spoke to co-owner Anthony Scarato about what's next for Anthonino's.   "We occupy an old...

In a world where chefs are trademarking their signature dishes and ingredients are altered from liquids to solids and solids to foams, it is refreshing to find a restaurant where simplicity rules.   That is what you'll find at Via Carota (51 Grove St., 212-255-1962), the new West Village restaurant by Rita Sodi (of I Sodi) and Jody Williams...

Four UNICO members prepared their favorite pasta dish and provided a taste for everyone to judge. Pictured behind the table are (l-r) Ed Mason, challenge coordinator, and competitors Nick Ruggieri, Frank Cappelli, Arthur Chomas and Suzanne Failla. Being served in front are Anthony Mazzareli and Monica Viana. Sixty area UNICO members and guests enj...

By Nicole Winfield   Michele Ferrero, the world's richest candy maker whose Nutella chocolate and hazlenut spread helped raise generations of Europeans and defined Italian sweets, died on Valentine's Day, the company said. He was 89. Ferrero, who had been ill for several months, died Saturday in Montecarlo where he lived, surrounded by...

The Springfield Area Education Foundation holds an all-you-can-eat-Italian-buffet Thursday, at the Spring Valley Banquet and Meeting Facility, 400 W. Woodland Ave. Springfield Area Education Foundation has teamed with DiFabio's 9th Street Market and Catering Co.'s Chef Jeff Deal for a full array of appetizers, entrees and desserts.   Th...

by Vincenza Di Maggio   On monday evening, pizza aficionados gathered at Rosso Pomodoro, a restaurant tucked away on the corner of Greenwich Avenue and 13th street in downtown Manhattan, where a vital piece of Neapolitan culture, pizza, is not only being celebrated but preserved.   Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, president of the Fondazione...

Some kids play veterinarian. Some kids play doctor. Mark Newman, a proud son of Highland Park, says, "Since I was six years old, I wanted to have a restaurant." Starting in October, or possibly earlier, Newman and his childhood friend from three doors down the block, Josh Kaplan, will have Ballaro (214 Green Bay Rd., Highwood), a 120-seat contempor...

By Lorraine Eaton   Antonio Caruana arrives for lunch wearing a black leather cap atop his shaved head and a Technicolor neck tattoo, and looking more like a character on "Sons of Anarchy" than one of Tidewater's hottest chefs.   It's nearly noon on a weekday when we convene at 219 An American Bistro, Caruana's pick for lunch. A block...

by Tracy Schuhmacher   The newest resident in the burgeoning food scene around the Rochester Public Market, Fiorella focuses on doing a few things well. The dinner menu is a handful each of starters, pastas, pizzas and entrées. The wine list is culled to three reds and three whites; a small assortment of craft beers is offered.   Some...

The Feast of the Seven Fishes will be served this Christmas Eve at Strada Italiano in downtown Asheville to celebrate the Italian-American tradition and the use of seafood in the family meal as a way of abstinence from meat, a long Roman Catholic tradition during various days of the week as well as during Lent. This year's feast menu is available o...