Close

Fioretti Hall, the oft-used multi-purpose room at Our Lady of Grace Church in Johnston, has perhaps never looked as festive as it did Saturday night. For example, the Italian colors of red, green and white were everywhere inside the jam-packed Roman Catholic Church’s parish center. Those colors came in many forms and sizes, none more striking than...

893

Italian-American enclaves around the country celebrated St. Joseph’s day Sunday. This holiday comes with its own culinary tradition – a luscious pastry called a zeppole. In the kitchen at La Salle Bakery in Providence Rhode Island – a state where zeppole are famous -- a team of bakers furiously prepare. They know lines will be forming to snap up th...

1628

The fire is burning, the pans are sizzling, the kitchen is cranking, and customers are flocking to Avvio Ristorante. Located in the Garden City Center in Cranston, Rhode Island, Avvio is lot nicer than most neighborhood Italian restaurants and pizzerias, but a lot less expensive than you’d expect, considering the consistently fresh and authentic fo...

1084

If you haven't been to Pat's Italian Restaurant in a while, you haven't been to Pat's. Before a visit last month, I hadn't been to Pat's since the Boston Red Sox were down three games to the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series. I was there the Saturday night the Sox lost, 19-8. For that dinner at Pat's, I dined by a fau...

742

Italian immigrants have stamped New England as indelibly as any Puritan ever since they started to arrive in large numbers during the 1890s. Today, the descendants of Italian immigrants make up more than 10 percent of the population of every New England state except Vermont and Maine. Any New Englander can recognize the voice of Don Orsillo, Joe Ca...

3153

Tony Petrarca refers to his first time on the air at WPRI after graduating from Lyndon State College as “the scariest three-and-half minutes in his life.” “March 17, 1987,” Tony recalled. “I just remember going a mile a minute. My mom called after the newscast [and said] ‘You were hyperventilating. Slow down.’ But it got better from there.” Now, WP...

4380

The Pannese Society of Rhode Island’s “Taste of Italy” held last Sunday served as a kickoff and thank you for the non-profit’s on-going Sister City program with Panni Foggia, Italy. “Papa Joe would be proud of what’s going on here this afternoon,” said Pasquale Simone at the “Taste of Italy” that was served at the nationally-accredited Johnston Sen...

688

Massimo Riva and his friend Guy Borlée sat at a café table outside the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna sipping wine and dreaming of ways to share their experiences with Riva's friends and family back home in Providence. "I wanted to bring this back to my students at Brown," says Riva, who is a professor of Italian studies at the university. "Brown has b...

904

If you enjoy traditional Italian dinners that include pasta, chicken and more, plan on being at the Johnston Senior Center on Sunday afternoon, February 26. That’s where the proud Pannese Society of Rhode Island will host and serve what promises to be a unique “Taste of Italy” after the doors open at one o’clock. According to Louis Mansolillo, a me...

676

A documentary on ex-Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci will be shown at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Jamestown Arts Center, 16 Valley St. The Emmy Award-winning movie, “Buddy: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Notorious Mayor,” was written, produced and directed by Cherry Arnold. It is a complex portrait of the contradictory and audacious man who became the...

1277