As Wild Olive on Johns Island turns 10, original staff reflects on Italian restaurant’s success
Chris Hills is Wild Olive’s bar manager: You know how those openings are. We were overstaffed, of course. It was chaotic, but more just because you don’t know where everything is. I’ve worked over 2,500 shifts here now, so you just turn around and you know. Brad Gozis is Wild Olive’s chef de cuisine: It was crazy, because at the time, Fred Neuville...
Italian restaurant opens in Knoxville
The Knoxville square is now home to a new eatery, Baggio’s Italian Restaurant owned by Maggie Qerimi. The new business took over the location of the former Red Rock Grill & Still at 124 S. 2nd St. and held their grand opening Monday, Feb. 4. The restaurant specializes in Northern Italian cuisine and the menu offers lunch and dinner options, includ...
Civetta Italian Kitchen + Bar Coming to StoneCrest at Piper Glen
Stacey and Kevin Jennings, the husband-and-wife team behind Vivace, are bringing a new casual Italian concept to south Charlotte. Civetta Italian Kitchen + Bar will open in the StoneCrest at Piper Glen shopping center in the old Smoke Modern Barbecue space. The southern Italian restaurant will be open for dinner only during the first few weeks, the...
Restaurant review: Luigi’s brings a bit of New York to Lake Alfred
Luigi’s Italian Restaurant opened in 2008 with Luigi Uzhca at the helm, having recently vacated the hustle-bustle of New York’s Forest Hills community. Situated in Queens, Forest Hills was, and certainly still is, rife with quintessential Italian-American trattorias, a good many, no doubt, headed by Old Country transplants. Tutto Bene was such an e...
It’s almost National Pizza Day. From Carmella’s to Zio, here’s how Charlotte pie makers do it differently
Appreciating a pizza you’ve come to know and love is easy. And in the Queen City, whether you prefer a thick crust ringed with caramelized mozzarella, or one that is thin and charred; cheese stretching to the length of your arm, or in a rich, contained bite; toppings piled high or conserved for one special ingredient to shine — pizza makers in town...
Pizza pride: Five spots to celebrate National Pizza Day from Naples to North Fort Myers
Pizza as we know it was invented in Naples. No, the one in Italy. So it makes sense that we — American Neapolitans — celebrate National Pizza Day on Saturday by savoring some of the best pizza along the Gulf Coast. We have options: New York-style, Chicago deep dish and coming on strong, Detroit squares from my hometown. There's plenty of choices fr...
Il vino italiano in Florida, crocevia tra Nord e Sud America, con la passione per i rossi
Parlare di vino italiano negli Stati Uniti vuol dire addentrarsi in un mondo complesso, una storia iniziata tanti decenni fa, che oggi vive probabilmente il suo apogeo, grazie ad un giro d’affari che nei primi 10 mesi del 2018, come ricordano i dati Ice di New York, ha toccato 1,65 miliardi di euro, per una quota di mercato che vale il 31,8% di tut...
Ciro Damiano looks back as he preps to celebrate two years on his wood fired pizza truck this Saturday at Low Tide
Damiano's Wood Fired Pizza, a local food truck serving Neapolitan-style pies, celebrates two years around the sun this Sat. Feb. 2 starting at 4 p.m. at Low Tide Brewing. In honor of all things pizza and beer, we chatted with owner Ciro Damiano, who was happy to deep-dish about his 'za and how he sees his food truck helping Charleston's cuisine sce...
East Haven’s Tolli’s Apizza poised to expand — to South Carolina
You know that line you always hear about there being no decent pizza — let alone apizza — down South? Fuhgettaboutit! One of East Haven’s oldest and best pizzerias, Tolli’s Apizza at 410 Main St., is getting ready to open a second place later this year in a well-traveled, fast-growing shopping area of Johns Island, S.C., a barrier island just outs...
White Bull Owner Bringing Italian Eatery Grana to Piedmont Heights
Chef Pasquale “Pat” Pascarella is planning an Italian eatery called Grana for the Piedmont Heights neighborhood of Atlanta, according to a press release Thursday. Grana will specialize in wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas, housemade pasta, "authentic Italian specialties" and more. The casual Italian eatery is slated to open in mid-2019, at 1835 Piedmont...
Local New Yorker serves up authentic Italian cuisine on the First Coast
He's a self-taught business owner who went from IT to mastering the art of serving up delicious Italian recipes. Once you step inside his pizza joint, you’ll quickly realize where Tony Desimone is from. For the past 15 years, he’s made it his mission to bring a sense of New York style and flavor right here to the First Coast. "I started out doing I...
Gambino’s now sells its Italian dressing in four states
Rick Gambino first created his Italian dressing some 40 years ago for his Fairhope restaurant. “It was always a dream of mine to get it in supermarkets,” he says. His dream has officially come true. Gambino’s Original Gourmet Italian salad dressing is now available at Piggly Wiggly stores in Baldwin County, with more to come throughout Alabama, as...