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The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations brought its message of unity to Chicago recently. Conference Chair Dr. Aileen Sirey, and Vice Chair Basil Russo met with representatives of 20 member organizations of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. The meeting was hosted by JCCIA President Sergio Giangrande. The m...

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Perhaps you’ve seen one of those articles about buying a house in Italy for as little as $1. And maybe your mind drifts to a stone palazzo, where you sit on your balcony, glass of Chianti in hand, listening to the lively chatter of the families passing below as the sun sinks toward a hilly horizon. Then you come to your senses: What kind of schmuck...

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An Old Town institution, Dinotto, closed Thanksgiving Day weekend after 30 years in three neighborhood locations. Though it’s been only a few days since Dinotto’s closure, there’s excitement already building in the space. Gallucci, with pies from a champion member of the U.S. Pizza Team is prepping to bring traditional Neapolitan pies to Old Town....

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In 1971, Lou Ragusi opened Capt’n Nemo’s, a restaurant that promised customers “A Whale of a Sub.” The Army veteran used to joke about how he came up with his restaurant’s name. “I couldn’t get my rank in the service,” he’d say. “So I bought it.” Since then, Capt’n Nemo’s has served hundreds of thousands of sandwiches at the original Rogers Park lo...

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In a converted train station in north suburban Highwood, athletes from as far away as South America gathered Wednesday for what promises to be a fierce three days of competition. You could tell they were athletes because that’s what the tags said dangling from their necks — that, and the sleek warm-up suits with the names of their countries stitche...

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“È bello ritrovarsi tra i siciliani in America e rivivere le tradizioni che ho vissuto in parte anche da piccola! Così è stato sabato scorso, a Chicago, per il 38esimo Anniversario della Festa in onore di Santa Fara organizzata dalla Società Santa Fara di Cinisi (Chicago), presieduta da Carlo Vaniglia, che ringrazio per l’invito e per il suo costan...

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In collaboration with the Italian Language Program in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, the Chicago Italian Appreciation Organization (CIAO), UChicago’s Italian culture RSO, swept the competition for a win in Duello ai Fornelli, an annual cooking competition among various Chicago universities.  Organized by the Italian internatio...

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Looking to chow down on some Italian fare? A new spot has you covered. The new addition, called Pacino's, is located at 1010 S. Delano Court. Pacino's specializes in classic Italian dishes, according to the website. The menu features pizza, pasta and salads. With a five-star rating out of six reviews on Yelp so far, the newcomer seems to be a welco...

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The second of six children, Victor Guerrieri was born in Chicago to Carmen and Rita (Mariano.) The family lived in his maternal grandparents’ building near Marmora and Higgins avenues before moving to the area around Foster and Cumberland avenues, where Guerrieri grew up. His parents were born in Chicago, and his grandparents emigrated from Bari. M...

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Our families were part of the more than 4 million Italians who came to America during the late 19th and early 20th century to escape poverty and start a new life. They settled in ethnic enclaves across America, working hard and maintaining the traditions while finding success in the mainstream. We all have stories about this journey that we either...

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