Located on the top, flat part of Verona, Penn. — running parallel to the main street, about one-half mile away — was Second Street where I grew up.  The topography made it special, but more notably, it was all of the hustle and bustle in this mixed Italian, German, Croatian, Irish and Polish neighborhood that made it shine. As youngsters, we put up...

When Pittsburghers hear “that’s amore,” they probably think of the classic Dean Martin song or maybe former Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, who used the ballad as his walkup music and later in a sketch where he provided love advice for fans at PNC Park. Here’s another potential association: “That’s Amore” is a film shot around the Pittsburgh ar...

Chef Steve Martorano has brough his new Martorano's Prime to Rivers Casino, building on his collection of restaurants in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where his Cafe Martorano has operated for 30 years. Martorano's Prime will be his first Italian-American steakhouse, featuring  a menu of prime cuts of beef and other staples...

Once upon a time, in the spring of 1911, a 14-year-old boy embarked on the ship Madonna from Naples, Italy. Per the instructions of his mother Francesca, his destination was Ellis Island, America. Luigi was never to see his siblings, his parents nor his homeland again. The combination of desperation and dreams, plus the promise that America held fo...

THEY BROUGHT THEM IN SUITCASES and in trunks, tucked into the corners of boats and, later, on airplanes. Seeds that became rapini, cardoons, artichokes, cucuzza squash. Cuttings from knobby grape vines that flourished into backyard arbors. And, above all, bits of stick that grew into fig trees. Starting in the late 1800s, when Italian immigrants po...

Every time Paola Corso’s grandmother saw a church, she made the sign of the cross. Corso adopted her grandmother’s tradition when she crossed a bridge over one of the three rivers in Pittsburgh: “In the name of the Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the holy Ohio, amen," became Corso’s personal prayer. In Vertical Bridges (Six Gallery Press), a new co...

When: From Nov 27, 2020 to Jan 4, 2021 - Where: Hall of Architecture - Kick off the season with a visit to our popular Nativity display nestled in our stunning Hall of Architecture. The presepio, a centuries-old tradition in Naples and Southern Italy, is an elaborate Nativity scene recreated with miniature figures arranged in a detailed panorama of...

Hays is a neighborhood on the southeast side of Pittsburgh. It is named after James H. Hays who operated a local mining industry. In the 1920s, many Italian immigrants moved to Hays to find work at Jones & Laughlin and US Steel Mills.  Most of these immigrants came from Controne, Italy. Controne is a small town that is south of Naples.  My grandpar...

It was 4 a.m. The night air was still crisp and fresh. I was driving alone on the streets in the city of Pittsburgh, Penn. The stillness was very noticeable. Street and traffic lots seemed to be brighter. Lights inside the residences were not visible. Surely no one was awake. My thoughts were focusing on walking a midnight beat as a young, uniforme...

Scarpino was born from a partnership six years in the making, but its reason for being is simple supply and demand: Chef Scott Walton needed a kitchen and Adam DeSimone had one to fill. “Good chefs are hard to find. Scott called me up in July and said, ‘I have a great idea for something. Do you have any kitchens available?’ I said, ‘I have, like se...