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How did the Bartolotta brothers, partners in the Milwaukee-based Bartolotta Restaurants group, become leading restaurateurs in the Midwest? Joe Bartolotta, president and co-owner, would point out that his brother, Paul, brought talent and experience from working in the kitchens of storied spots like the Rainbow Room in New York and Spiaggia in Chic...

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A Milwaukee father and son set out on a journey to learn as much as they can about their ancestors, with the help of NBC's " Today" show. Steve Balistreri's father and uncle started Sendik's. If you were part of the family, you likely paid your dues at at least one of those stores.  "All of us, all of my brothers and sisters, we all worked there, m...

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A contest at the Italian Workmen’s Club in Madison got a little saucy on Sunday. Members took part in a marinara sauce tasting contest. Members of the Italian Workmen’s Club and Italian-American Women’s Club were eligible to enter in the contest. The winner takes home the coveted bragging rights of best tasting sauce in the club. “Yeah it’s bringin...

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Ring Road will now officially be called Calabria Way. The Kenosha City Council voted Monday evening to rename the roadway connecting the eastern-most ends of 56th and 54th streets. The change was recommended by several aldermen as a way to recognize’s Kenosha’s Italian heritage.  According to the resolution, principally sponsored by Ald. David Bogd...

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Toy donations. Christmas baskets. Scholarship giving. This doesn't sound like the normal activities of a social club, but a social club is still how many members of the Italian American Ladies Auxiliary of Kenosha, who celebrated their 95th anniversary Thursday, describe themselves. The auxiliary, part of the Italian American Club at 2217 52nd St....

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This exhibition explores the world-famous cookbook Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene) published by Pellegrino Artusi in 1891. More than a cookbook, this book was a political project – the contribution Artusi wanted to give his country, laboriously unified a few years earlier. “I am exci...

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When Katie Parla set out to study art history in Italy, she found herself far more interested in food and wine. A New Jersey native who grew up in a restaurant family, she thought she knew Italian food until she moved there. She’s spent the past 16 years exploring the cuisines, living in Rome and pursuing recipes from chefs and grandmothers alike....

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Three Midwestern luminaries were knighted by Italian Consul General Giuseppe Finocchiaro at a special ceremony on Dec. 12. Chicago-area activist Lissa Druss and Milwaukee stalwart Pietro Tarantino earned the rank of Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia and longtime Loyola University language instructor Anna Clara Ionta ascended to the higher...

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Her 24 years as a Navy nurse taught Pam Dennis many things. Leadership. Organization. Attention to detail. The value of nurturing. And oh, yes — skills in the kitchen. The Navy itself had nothing to do with that. But while stationed in the port city of Pozzuoli in southern Italy, a 20-something Dennis made fast friends with a fellow apartment dwell...

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The film Moonstruck could not be a more appropriate choice for a starry, frigid-though-windless night at the shadowy Bay View hideaway Santino’s Little Italy. On the flat screen TVs, that is. Cher and Nicolas Cage (with a wooden hand!) make googly eyes at each other amid the backdrop of Brooklyn Heights brownstones. Sadly, the Puccini-et-al soundtr...

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