For 54 years, Cafe Continental has been one of the premier places to enjoy an authentic Italian meal in Nassau County. Located at 1538 Northern Boulevard in Manhasset, the upscale eatery, which opened in 1964, specializes in crafting some of the most savory and traditional appetizers and entrees. Start out with an order of prosciutto, beef carpacci...

Long before 1400 Woodward Ave. became San Morello, downtown Detroit’s newest restaurant, it was home to a jewelry company. That became a menswear store, then a furrier, later a drugstore, and most recently, from 1997 to around 2012, a hair company called Eastern Wigs. But it first started as T.B. Rayl Co., a hardware store that occupied the buildin...

When Harvey Harris traveled to Italy in 1998, he said he had to forget everything he knew about Italian cooking. At the time, Harris already knew quite a bit about the cuisine. He had been the chef at Mezzaluna, a popular, now-closed Italian spot in downtown Austin. That led him to eventually connect with local restaurateur Stan Adams, who wanted t...

I was having lunch with my friend and colleague Dorie Clark one day when she asked, “Do you know Chris Schembra of the 7:47 Club? If not, You MUST meet him.” I hadn’t met him or heard of him, but when I looked him up, I couldn’t believe my eyes. With a name like the 7:47 Club, I thought maybe he was in the airline business. Nope! Chris curates dinn...

When you walk into an Italian restaurant, there's something very homey about seeing black and white family photos on the wall. And at Mama Catena's, family is important. It was family who endured through the aftermath of a fire that happened two years ago and shut down the restaurant for just shy of a year. It's family members like Frank Catena, wh...

Italian Enthusiasts know that every community in Italy comes with not only its own vernacular, but also its own pastry.  For me, when visiting the provinces and towns of Italy, I am always equally as enthusiastic to visit the ancient churches as I am to taste the typical desserts, sometimes dating back hundreds of years. In southern Puglia, it is n...

Although many people know the Folger Shakespeare Library for its holdings in early modern English literature, the library also has an extensive collection of early modern Italian books, including some of the earliest cookbooks ever printed. Italian food has evolved so much over the past 500 years that even so-called ‘classic’ Italian dishes—such as...

Eric and Vanessa Carrerra of i.e. Italian Eatery are expanding to Saint Paul’s Highland Park. The former Espresso Royal coffee shop is under construction and will re-open as a market and restaurant inspired by the mega-Italian market and restaurant complex Eataly. Unlike those hulking complexes in New York and Chicago, this spot, called Dué Focacce...

There’s no corralling Tony Capasso, the effusive managing partner of Tony’s, his restaurant at the J House in the Riverside section of Greenwich. For years, he’s been known as the Trivia Guy, a man of a thousand questions. He first came on the scene in Riverside at Valbella, where he attracted almost the entire Yankees team to come and dine. Then h...

Pinstripes, a dining experience that offers bowling and bocce, has announced plans to open its first Northeast location in the currently under construction SoNo Collection mall. Pinstripes, Inc. announced Thursday their partnership with Brookfield Properties to open three new locations, including one in Norwalk. According to a press release, the tw...