Hall of Famer Marino just part of attraction at pizzeria opening in Cranston
Crowds of fans lined up to shake not just the hand of NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino, but also that of his business partner, restaurateur Anthony Bruno at the grand opening of Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza at Garden City on Thursday. The Florida pizzeria has moved north, meeting snow birds in their summer habitat. So while Miami Dolphins fans offered th...
Comedian Vic DiBitetto performs at Newtown’s Edmond Town Hall Theater
People love when comic Vic DiBitetto pokes fun at folks who, when they hear snow is coming, get frantic about buying bread and milk — as if their very lives depend on it. In fact, his viral video, “Bread & Milk” has more than 16 million views. But storm-prep obsessions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the things humans do that D...
Boston library to return historical artifacts to Italy
The Boston Public Library is returning to Italy medieval manuscripts and a volume of works, ending in one case a mystery dating back seven decades. The items include a manuscript from 1392, an illuminated leaf from a manuscript dating between 1418 and 1422, and a collection of works by Bernardino Telesio, published in 1590. Boston Mayor Martin Wals...
Italian fast-casual chain to open restaurant in Southington this summer
An Italian fast-casual chain restaurant is expected to open at the TA Travel Center in Milldale this summer. Fazoli’s, which serves pizza, pasta, sandwiches and other dinners, will open its first location in the northeast at the travel center, 1875 Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike, the company said in a statement. “Our mission at Fazoli’s is to serve Ame...
Jeff Savastano: Federal Hill to East Boothbay
Jeff Savastano has been around Boothbay for so long, you might think he's a native. But other than the three-story Victorian-style farmhouse he and his wife, Adele Bielli, share in East Boothbay, there aren't many similarities to his childhood in Providence, Rhode Island. As his name implies, Savastano's father, Americo, was Italian. His mother, wh...
Trattoria Delia owners promise 'nothing's changing'
Trattoria Delia brought something new to Burlington 24 years ago: Italian food, which is to say food that aspired to be as authentically Italian as possible. That included menu items that surprised Vermonters, said Tom Delia, who opened the restaurant with his wife, Lori. “People weren’t ready for squid and pasta 24 years ago,” he said. The menu al...
Italian restaurant chain to open Southington eatery
Fazoli's, a Kentucky-based fast casual Italian chain, said Wednesday it is partnering with the TA Restaurant Group to open a new eatery in the Milldale section of Southington late this summer. The Southington restaurant would be the first of four restaurants across the country to debut with the two partners. Two others are planned Oklahoma and Texa...
I AM Book’s Nicola Orichuia Becomes a Cartoon Character at Braccio Di Ferro Event
When managing an Italian-American book store, featuring varied entertainment, you have to remain animated. This is what happened to Nicola Orichuia, co-owner of I AM Books, when he literally became an animated cartoon character. Orichuia appears in a water safety segment for the award winning cable access series Drawing With Fred. The segment, spok...
Botticelli show features works never before seen in the US
A new exhibition of Sandro Botticelli's paintings, including some never seen in the U.S., will give museumgoers a glimpse into the artist's own search for sanctity. The show, "Botticelli and the Search for the Divine," opens Saturday at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. It showcases valuable works from the Italian Renaissance master's catalog, includin...
Norwalk Sons of Italy celebrates 100 years
The Norwalk Sons and Daughters of Italy Pietro Micca Lodge No. 744 will mark a major milestone Saturday with a dinner, dance, scholarship awards and pride in its history. “With pride, we mark 100 years in Norwalk where we have been an integral part of the community and contributed to it,” wrote Pietro Micca Lodge President Marie Iannazzi in an invi...
Chow Italia! Italian eatery coming to South Deerfield soon
Italian cuisine is coming to the village center — Gianni Fig’s Ristorante Italian Cuisine is expected to open in about a month at the former Sienna Market. “It’s the full experience. I’m not joking around,” said Italian Chef and Owner Gianni Calabrese Monday, standing in on the steps of 6 Elm St. beneath a sign announcing his cuisine is “coming soo...
Portland chef shares memories of Italian Easter bread, handed down from his grandmother
Damian Sansonetti has baked and eaten Easter bread all his life, but when it comes to braiding the dough for the holiday treat, he has to call over his wife and business partner, llma Lopez.“Your left…up…across…” she coaches him. As the mother of a 3-year-old girl, she’s had a lot more practice with braiding. “This guy’s going over, and this guy’s...