Serpico reopens in Perry Hall
After more than three months, Serpico Pizza and Pasta has reopened in Perry Hall. ”Thank you for being patient with us as we made these necessary changes to our restaurant,” read a message on the eatery’s Facebook page. “It took us a lot longer than we anticipated, but we can’t wait to show it off to you!!” The Italian restaurant located in Perry...
Bensonhurst record store still selling Italian goods over 50 years later
A Bensonhurst record store is going strong after over 50 years of keeping Brooklyn residents in touch with their Italian heritage. SAS Italian Records opened in 1967 and houses more than 3,000 CDs and other items. Owner Silvana Conte says the store was the first Italian importer of some items they sell like sportswear, magazines and Italian DVDs. R...
Christopher Castellani Discovers the Truth Through Fiction
Love, Italy, and alternative-history fiction that travels down a what-if path to approach a truth: these have long been preoccupations of Christopher Castellani. His first three novels, the Maddalena trilogy (A Kiss from Maddalena, The Saint of Lost Things, and All This Talk of Love), were published by Algonquin over a 10-year period beginning in 2...
Le Marche, Ascoli and the magic of Olives all’Ascolana
As big as a Robin’s egg, mildly tart with a hint of sweetness, and just-perfect chewy only begins to describe an Ascolana olive. Biting into one is a much finer manner of introduction to this enticing little fruit…and I was lucky enough to experience this (over and over again) when recently in Ascoli Piceno. Olives on the Italian peninsula are n...
Lady Gaga honours Bradley Cooper for accomplishments in Hollywood, gets emotional during speech
American singer Lady Gaga broke down into tears after she honoured Bradley Cooper at the American Cinematheque Award Presentation in Beverly Hills for his accomplishments in Hollywood. During her speech, the six-time Grammy winner opened up about how her 'A Star is Born' co-star, helped her open up through her role, confirmed E!Online. "I felt comf...
Monica Lapenta (President of the Italian Cultural Center of Maryland)
Many extremely interesting things are happening and will happen in the community that in Baltimore celebrates Italy and its cultural and artistic heritage. These activities, which have been running alongside others for some time, are carried out by the Italian Cultural Center of Maryland, thanks to a capable and committed staff led by an Italian wo...
Feast of Seven Fishes a nod to Italian traditions
Great-grandparents from both sides of the Paterno family immigrated from Italy to West Virginia in the early 1900s. Four generations later — five, counting her children — Niki Paterno Kurten says the traditions of those early Italian roots have been carefully preserved. Case in point: their annual Feast of the Seven Fishes. “My family does this eve...
Celebrating the Neapolitan Presepio
Saturday December 8, 2:00 pm. Garibaldi Meucci Museum. 420 Tompkins Avenue, Staten Island, NY. Admission: $10; open to the public. Contact: Carol Berardi 718-442-1608. A lecture and DVD presentation by Anita Sanseverino and Lou Barrella featuring the unveiling of a newly created Presepe Napoletano by Brooklyn Artist John Miniero. A Neapoltan Presep...
Longtime family-owned Italian Kitchen in Central El Paso celebrates 70th anniversary
Like layers in a fine lasagna, history, tradition and long-time family recipes are woven inside the walls of the Italian Kitchen. The restaurant was started by the late Sam Maranto, a second-generation Italian-American and World War II veteran, and is thriving and celebrating a major milestone — 70 years in business. "It's a big honor for any busin...
Italian is the fastest dying language in the US
As they say in Italian, Così va il mondo. For our US readers, hardly any of whom speak the language anymore, let me translate: “So the world goes.” From 2001 to 2017, the number of Americans speaking Italian at home dropped from almost 900,000 to just over 550,000, an incredible 38% reduction in just 16 years. Among languages with at least 100,000...
New US Trailer for Alice Rohrwacher's Italian Fable 'Happy as Lazzaro'
"I'm calling about a missing boy." Netflix has released a new US trailer for the film Happy as Lazzaro, originally titled Lazzaro felice, the latest film by acclaimed Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher (Corpo Celeste, The Wonders). This trailer celebrates the release of the film on Netflix today, for those who would like to catch this acclaimed, sh...
New company buys Brio Tuscan Grille and Bravo Cucina Italiana
The offices of FoodFirst Global Restaurants on the ninth floor of downtown Orlando’s CNL Tower II are not the bustling headquarters of a national restaurant company — at least not yet. Only a handful of offices are occupied, boxes are still being unpacked and the main floor is full of empty desks, awaiting workers to bolster the startup company. Ch...