A mom-and-pop grocer -- actually an uncle, his two nephews and their extended families -- is celebrating 30 years in Arlington Heights. Valli Produce International Fresh Market opened its first store at 450 E. Golf Road in 1989 -- the creation of Alfredo Presta and his two nephews, Lou Tenuta and Frank Chilelli. To celebrate, the store will offer f...

In the two decades since its founding, the Chicagoland Italian American Charitable Organization has created a remarkable legacy of giving. Each year, the group provides hundreds of needy families with full Thanksgiving meals, presents tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to college-bound students and bestows tens of thousands of dollars mor...

Dr. Katina Spadoni will ascend to the presidency of the Arcolian Dental Arts Society on April 23 at Gene & Georgetti’s in Chicago. Dr. Spadoni and her sister, Rosella, are founding dentists at South Barrington Dental. She received her bachelor’s of science in biology cum laude in 1984 from Loyola University of Chicago and completed her graduate stu...

Holy Week is central to the spiritual lives of Italians on both sides of the Atlantic, and Casa Italia, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and Our Lady of Pompeii are playing their parts from Palm Sunday (April 14) to Easter Sunday (April 21). CASA ITALIA (Stone Park) will celebrate Mass at noon on Palm Sunday; Mass and the traditional washing of the feet at 7...

The morning after their family's South Chicago pizzeria burned down, Len and Lena Ciannamea went back to visit. As they surveyed the charred remains of Capri’s on Commercial, longtime customers slowed down in their cars and snapped pictures. Social media flooded with messages hailing the restaurant, first opened in 1955, as a staple of their lives....

Italian tenor Giovanni Coletta and local accordionist Linda Iovino will share the spotlight on April 11 at Pescatore Palace in Franklin Park during a fund-raiser for the Highland Park Sister Cities Foundation. A native of Taranto, Italy, Coletta studied at the Teatro alla Scala Academy, won the Trotta Competition in Castelnuovo della Daunia in 2004...

The new president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans hit the ground running at the organization’s annual meeting. Speaking to a packed dining room at Casa Italia’s Banquet Center, Sergio Giangrande announced a dramatic rollback of dues in an effort encourage involvement on the part of both individuals and organizations. Giangrande pr...

When:Tuesday, April 16th 6:00pm - Where: Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, 500 N Michigan Ave Suite 1450 - What: Presented on the occasion of the 500th Anniversary of the Death of Leonardo da Vinci, The fourth and final lecture of a series at the Italian Cultural Institute by Professor Giovanni Aloi (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) Leo...

When: Thursday, March 28, 2019 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CDT) - Where: Italian Cultural Institute | 500 N Michigan Ave | Suite 1450 | Chicago IL Jenifer Landor, Founder of Live and Learn Italian, will lead guests on a journey to discover Molise, a hidden Italian gem wedged between Abruzzo and Puglia, which is largely unknown, even to some Italians....

The Gene Siskel Film Center will present the the 22nd Annual Chicago European Union Film Festival through April 4. The following Italian films will be screened at the festival. (Descriptions were provided by the Gene Siskel Film Center.) LORO: 2018, Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France, 150 min. With Toni Servillo, Elena Sofia Ricci. Wednesday, March 13,...