The Mayor of Bologna has launched an awareness campaign to untangle the reputation of his city from the pasta wrongly thought to originate there. Spaghetti Bolognese is a favourite around the world but has no particular tie to the city in north Italy.   “Dear residents, I am collecting photos of spaghetti Bolognese from around the world (speaking o...

I’m reaching way back to the earliest memories of my youth, to the first pasta accompaniment I ever knew and loved: Sunday sauce. Back then that’s not what we called it, at least in my family. It was just sauce. My immediate family wasn’t on the “gravy” train—which was odd because that’s what my maternal grandmother called it (confusing the hell ou...

A slice of a longtime Connecticut pizzeria is headed to the Lowcountry. The owners of Tolli’s Apizza in East Haven plan to open a new restaurant on Maybank Highway on Johns Island by late summer. The space, with seating for 40 and a bar and patio, is still being built as part of a new shopping area on Crowne Commons Way near Crowne at Live Oak Squa...

Villa Napoletana is an East Longmeadow eatery that habitually earns a place on the region's "best of" restaurant lists. Housed in a diminutive shopping plaza just across the Springfield city line, Villa Napoletana's handsome dining space is characterized by a high concept, subtly theatrical decor. Tables and chairs are the sole seating option. The...

More than 50 years ago, Fausto Ferrari staked his claim in the American dream when he opened the Fausto Ferrari Barbershop on Garfield Place downtown. Now his grand-nephews, Tony and Austin Ferrari, are writing a new chapter in that story as their own family brand — The Ferrari Bros. — introduces the new coffee shop and wine bar Mom ‘N ‘Em to Camp...

IF YOU’RE a local, you have probably noticed the magnificent pink Victorian that sits on East 36th Street by now. What looks like a grandiose home of Savannah’s elite is not that at all, instead housing Savannah’s newest upscale authentic Italian restaurant, La Scala Ristorante.  The bold duo behind the massive undertaking, Donald Lubowicki and Jef...

big Burrito is going Italian, with a California twist. The restaurant group, which operates numerous Mad Mex locations, as well as Casbah, Kaya, Eleven, Soba and Umi, will open Alta Via this March in O’Hara Township. Inspired by life in both the Italian Alps and California wine country, the menu will focus on modern Italian fare such as pasta, seaf...

John Toto beamed as patrons walked up the stairs of his Ocean Breeze restaurant for the last time. They heard the news: After 34 years, Joe & John Toto's declared last call as Sunday, Feb. 24. It will soon be Juicy Lucy, a barbecue restaurant by one of the borough's Lickety Split route owners, Richie Holmes.  "Emily!" said John to a tearful guest w...

Evelyn’s won the Daily Republic’s Readers’ Choice for best Italian restaurant, but gorgeous pie isn’t the only thing putting the restaurant on the map. If it’s food and it’s Italian, Piero “Peter” Tropeano and Evelyn’s has it. “If people come in here and they aren’t happy, I’m going to make them happy one way or another,” Tropeano said. “They alway...

Carmela Cataldo is straightforward about how she did at the Pizza Pizzazz. “I didn’t win,” she said. “I got fourth place.” But there’s more to the story. Cataldo, best known as “Carmie,” is 16 years old. She was the youngest of the 45 competitors. It was her first competition. She missed third place and a cash prize by a point (though the Cataldos...