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The organizers of Festa Italiana have called off the lakefront festival for the third straight year. In a statement Friday afternoon, Rose Anne Fritchie, president of the Italian Community Center and Festa director, cited the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including on the financial health of the organization.  "We have always been pro...

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After being paused for two years due to Covid, the Italian Community Center's A Taste of Italy fundraiser returns for 2022. This longstanding tradition at the ICC, 631 E. Chicago Ave., takes place Sunday, May 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A Taste of Italy is run entirely by ICC volunteers. As always there will be a 50/50 raffle and musical entert...

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Centro Cafe is an Italian restaurant on Center Street that has been successful in the community for years, because of their delicious dishes. “We've been here for 12 years now in the heart of Riverwest," says general manger Chris Botts. "We started out small (with) only this downstairs area, but we’ve expanded through out the years to make this a c...

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Whether you’re ready or not, the holidays are coming. Thanksgiving is over, December is here, and the stress of the holiday season will soon be upon us in full force. In addition to trying to find something unique and special for everyone on your holiday shopping list, we also recommend trying to buy something local for those hard-to-buy-for people...

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As I write this, handmade Italian bucatini and mafaldini are drying inside the kitchen at Semolina, the new retail shop at 2474 S. Kinnickinic Ave. which will welcome its first customers beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 22.  The pastas – made by owner Petra Orlowski using finely milled organic durum wheat flour from Central Milling in Utah and...

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The Florentine Opera is the next work of Giuseppe Verdi’s Revolutionary Opera, returning to the Grand Opera. Rigoletto.. Performed on October 8th and 10th at the Willin Hall of the Marcus Paforming Arts Center is Florence’s first performance in front of the audience since the pandemic regulations came into force in 2020. It was developed to reprodu...

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Strega, a new maker of fresh pastas, snacks and desserts, will join the food vendors at 3rd Street Market Hall downtown, which has set an opening date of Oct. 18. Although Strega is new, a couple of restaurant-industry veterans with wide experience will operate it: Katie Gabert, who at one time was Goodkind chef de cuisine, and Samantha Sandrin, wh...

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This week I went to Santino’s Little Italy, 352 E. Stewart St. The restaurant opened in January of 2017. While I was there, I got the chance to sit down and talk to the owners, Santo Galati and Greg Huber. Santo told me that his parents came to Milwaukee from Italy in the 1950s. Inspired by his travels throughout Italy and the food that he grew up...

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If you're going to call yourself an Italian restaurant, you have to know the language, though for the guests themselves the menu items can sometimes be, well, difficult to pronounce. You know you're in an authentic place when the staff verbally breezes through the menu with ease and doesn't dumb it down. Traditional Italian restaurants have a bit m...

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Capri Communities’ newest community in Milwaukee’s historic Italian-American neighborhood cost $28.9 million — but the price tag on the land was just $1. St. Rita Square, a 118-unit building offering independent living, assisted living and memory care, opened in July 2020 and occupancy is currently at 70% and climbing, Founder and Principal Jim Tar...

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