La Panarda, a marathon meal at East Passyunk Avenue’s Le Virtu lasting more than 40 courses and nine hours, is back for its seventh year. The epic Southern Italian feast, which takes over the entire restaurant, is planned for Sunday, January 27, starting at noon. Le Virtu will begin accepting La Panarda reservations beginning Friday, December 7, at...

Philadelphia is full of small idiosyncratic museums, from the memorials to Thaddeus Kosciuszko and Edgar Allen Poe to the 70s-tastic displays of the Mummer Museum, from the aging scientific displays of the Wagner Free Institute of Science to the one-of-a-kind monuments to freedom at the National Liberty Museum. I discovered another weird little tre...

Even to the eyes of a 6-year-old, Frank Rizzo, the mayor of Philadelphia, was a presence. He stepped out of his car on Independence Mall one day in 1976, just in front of me, my sister, and a few Midwestern cousins. He looked down at us, extended his hand toward the heavens, and said “Hello, kids!” The Midwestern cousins had no idea who he was; I f...

There was only ever one George at the sandwich shop. But everyone who came after him at the storefront on Ninth Street has inherited his name, too. The original George, who came to America from Greece in 1908, slung tripe and veal and barbecued beef tongue sandwiches out of a butcher basement until 1936, when he opened George's Sandwich Shop. He pa...

Traditional South Philly Italian cooking lands in Rittenhouse starting Tuesday, Nov. 27 with the opening of Giuseppe & Sons (1523 Sansom St.), a joint project by Michael Schulson and his wife, Nina Tinari, along with the Termini Bros. pastry family. Next door to the Schulsons' Harp & Crown, it’s two restaurants in one. At 14,000 square feet, it’s...

John Romani figured there would be a lot of attention. He gets the appeal: He’s Italian, the son of a cop, a Philly native. “Mayor Rizzo was talked about on a daily, weekly basis in my house,” said the certified appraiser. Along with his mother, Romani has run Sales by Helen, a firm specializing in high-end estate sales, for 30 years. But they’ve n...

The life of Philadelphia filmmaker Robert Patriarca has been measured in cannoli. So, his audiences may find it hard to believe the 28-year-old Frankford native didn’t actually consume the Italian pastry until he was 14 years old. “We grew up without cannoli in our household,” he recently confided, while sitting amid copious amounts of the tube-sha...

The address that most recently housed Greek favorite Kanella South is getting a new tenant next year. Chefs Justine MacNeil and Ed Crochet, who are married, are opening Fiore at 757 S. Front Street. They’re planning it as an Italian daytime cafe that transitions into a full-service restaurant in the evening. The couple is coming from New York City,...

Anyone who has ever wanted a piece of Frank Rizzo is in luck. The home of the loved and loathed former Philadelphia mayor and police chief is for sale, and so is just about everything inside. Rizzo’s estate sale starts Black Friday, Nov. 23, and will feature hundreds of items both large and small, including his billy club and Rolodex, Italian-made...

Italian-American Foundation, Filitalia, honors Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, Founder & President of Sbarro Health Research Organization at Temple University with the Humanitarian award at the foundation’s 31st Anniversary Gala. Filitalia International & Foundation celebrates 31 years of commitment, dedication and service at their Annual Gala Dinner on...