West Haven is the host community for October’s Greater New Haven Italian American Heritage Festival. Kicking off the festivities is a dinner from 6-10 p.m. May 15 at West Haven’s Cielo Banquet Hall, 85 Chase Lane, where the city will recognize this year’s grand marshal, longtime resident Mark Consorte. Mayor Dorinda Borer, who tapped Consorte, said...

Explore the deep roots of the Italian community in New Haven, CT with our esteemed guests, Frank Stellato and “Uncle Frank” Carano as we explore the cultural and culinary importance of the St. Andrew of Amalfi Society and the indelible mark of Italian migration on New Haven’s history.   Savor the stories of reconnecting with family history and trad...

Paul Giamatti reaffirmed his loyalty to New Haven-style pizza on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Tuesday night. In his interview with the late-night talk show host, the award-winning actor and Yale University alumnus discussed how growing up in the Elm City made him a dedicated fan of apizza, the dish that has given the city its reputation as the "pizza capit...

Christmas in Italy, at the turn of the twentieth century, was a very different kind of celebration than the American/English version that greeted the immigrants coming to Wooster Square. The star of Bethlehem positioned above the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Amalfi and the festive window displays in the pastry shops were replaced by Christmas trees a...

In 1223, St. Francis of Assisi decided to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a new way by recreating the Nativity in the Italian town of Greccio. According to his biographer, Thomas de Celano, Francis assembled what is considered the first crèche, saying, “Out of Greccio is made a new Bethlehem.” To mark this major octocentennial anniversary, the Knig...

What does a 101-year-old cannoli taste like? Probably best not to find out, but Libby’s Italian Pastry Shop in New Haven’s Wooster Square still makes its cannoli, cookies, éclair and more using original recipes from when it opened in 1922.  One of those is a winter delicacy. “For Christmas season, we make an Italian specialty called struffoli, whic...

As artificial intelligence and other digital advancements continue to transform Yale’s classrooms, university thinkers are beginning to explore how these technologies will shape society at large. Yale’s new Digital Ethics Center, founded this year by Italian philosopher Luciano Floridi, seeks to research the societal impact of modern digital innova...

The Wooster Square neighborhood, as it came to be identified as an enclave for Italian immigrants, found those of other ethnic origins leaving, and the original Yankee industrialists abandoned their stately homes in favor of other neighborhoods that were more protected against foreign intrusion. The diaspora-like  influx of the primarily southern I...

The clay sculpture for the new Wooster Square monument that eventually will replace the Christopher Columbus status that once stood in Wooster Square Park is nearly finished and ready to go to a Massachusetts foundry to be cast in bronze. Meanwhile, fundraising has reached $320,000 toward a $400,000 goal, said Bill Iovanne Jr., co-chair of the Woos...

A half-dozen members of a group called the Italian-American Defense League gathered in Wooster Square Park to celebrate Columbus Day — and to renew their call for a return of the long-gone statue depicting that federal holiday’s namesake. The group charged with coming up with a new Italian heritage-celebrating sculpture for that same spot of Wooste...