New York is not just Manhattan, and one who understood very well this is Laura Caparrotti, Roman by birth and New Yorker by adoption, who last year created "In scena! Italian Theater festival NY" that brings the Italian theater in all 5 boroughs of New York City: Manhattan as well as also the Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens. The 2014 edi...

By Lauren Steussy   More than 11,500 votes were cast in the "Best of Arts & Entertainment" categories of the 2014 Staten Island Readers' Choice Awards. And your "Best Wine Selection" winner is: Enoteca Maria — 27 Hyatt St, 718-447-2777 — with 866 votes.   Staten Island's famous kitchen full of Italian nonnas is also full of a...

Wednesday, July 8th: Il Gattopardo (1963) "The Leopard" - Directed by Luchino Visconti - Drama/Romance - Not Rated - 187 Minutes - In Italian with English subtitles   As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social c...

The Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy (BGTI), an international non-profit organization empowering war refugee and migrant youth, recently welcomed Staten Islander Gabriele Delmonaco as its new executive director. Delmonaco, who lives in New Brighton with his family, moved to the borough in 2001 from Rome.   He said of his choice to move to the...

by Michael Kaminer   This nonna's got balls. They're palle di joe ($14), beef testicles that are sliced, baked in oil and vinegar, and served on greens. I didn't have cojones to try them at Enoteca Maria, the Staten Island joint that's become a sensation for its rotating cast of grandmas in the kitchen.   But almost everythi...

You can't honor Italian culture without considering la cucina. That's why the Italian Cultural Foundation has added a culinary program at its headquarters in Casa Belvedere, a historic mansion on Staten Island.   There are cooking courses for children and adults, as well as wine tastings and dinners. One class in September will cover regiona...

by Nicholas Rizzi   When Jody Scarvella opened his restaurant Enoteca Maria in St. George, he wanted a way to bring Italian home cooking to people who pined for their grandmothers' cooking. The eatery at 27 Hyatt St. hired a different grandma as head chef each night — and got them to cook up specialties from the region of Italy they emi...

In the summer, I like to vacation in my own "back yard" and I define that as the five boroughs and suburbs of New York. I always enjoy discovering new fun neighborhoods, restaurants by bodies of water (of which there are many!) and hidden gems. I found one such gem on the "Isle of Staten" as my dear friend Grae, a native Staten Islander, alway...

By Carol Ann Benanti Whether you're of Italian descent, or simply have a special affection for all things Italian, you won't want to miss Motori D'Italia, an exotic Italian car and motorcycle show which will be the highlight of the annual Festa D'Italia at Casa Belvedere: The Italian Cultural Foundation on Grymes Hill, set for the weekend of Sept....

Join the Staten Island Network for a High Tea featuring Maria Laurino, author of The Italian Americans: A History, a richly researched, beautifully designed and illustrated companion book to the much-anticipated PBS series that aired in February 2015. Laurino's presentation, "The Italian American Experience — Our History, Ourselves," will discuss...