Good Bye to Chef Silvio
Chef Silvio passed away on Wednesday, November 22nd at home surrounded by his family and friends. Here is in 2010 making homemade pasta at Cafe Allegre. Silvio was just a good, decent Italian American who wanted nothing other than to take care of his family, his friends, and anyone who needed help. True to his Italian roots, he always welcomed the...
Hartford’s “Little Italy”
In the early 1900s, Hartford was a booming economic center. Italy, on the other hand, suffered both economically and socially. Hundreds of thousands of Italian men looked for unskilled work in other countries; many eventually headed to the United States. Hartford’s potential job opportunities attracted Italians and soon the city’s number of immigra...
Murals send message of love to immigrants past and present
Murals celebrating immigrants past and present are cropping up in Boston neighborhoods as part of the city's take on the national "To Immigrants With Love" campaign. The murals, which began cropping up this summer, juxtapose real life Boston immigrants from past generations with more recent newcomers. One mural features a Russian couple who founde...
Many Turn Out to Wish Councilor LaMattina Farewell
When City Councilor Sal LaMattina announced in April he would leave public office, the shockwaves rippled throughout the community. After a stellar 30-year career with the City of Boston, eleven of which was spent as the District 1 City Councilor, LaMattina said, “It’s time. It’s time to give someone else a shot who has new ideas. I did not make th...
Wakefield SOA celebrates Italian Heritage Month
Wakefield Sons of Italy and members of the community recently celebrated Italian Heritage Month at the Beebe Library with a screening of “Boston’s North End: An Italian American Story.” Attendees had an opportunity to ask questions and share their own stories with the producer, Boston University professor James Pasto, after the film. Upon arrival i...
Ambassador explains Italian strong ties to Connecticut
You do not know what beauty is if you have not been here," Mark Twain famously wrote about Hartford in 1868. Visiting the capital of the Constitution State 150 years later, as the ambassador of Italy to the United States, I can see why one of America's greatest writers, whose novels have been read all over the world, was moved by the beauty of this...
'Canaletto and the Art of Venice' comes to BF Opera House
RAMParts Presents, in partnership with Exhibition on Screen, brings the 90-minute feature film, Canaletto and the Art of Venice to the Bellows Falls Opera House on Thursday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m., for an immersive journey into the life and art of Venice’s famous view-painter. No artist better captures the essence and allure of Venice than Giovanni...
Italian-Language Christmas Movie 'La Cena Di Natale' In New Haven
New Haven has always been a hub of Italian-American activity in Connecticut. So it's the perfect place to ring in the holiday, Italian-style. On Wednesday, Nov. 29, an Italian-language Christmas movie will be shown at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. Marco Ponti's 2016 comedy "La Cena di Natale" ("The Christmas Dinner") tells abo...
San Martino Celebration - Braintree, Massachusetts
On November 11th IACO (Italian American Cultural Organization) of Braintree and The South Shore celebrated the Feast of San Martino. The event was held at Braintree Town Hall with 250 guests in attendance. How appropriate for this feast to fall on the same day as Veteran’s Day because San Martino (St. Martins) was a soldier himself. The band, Sea B...
Italian Ambassador To U.S. Helps Open Italian Consulate In Hartford
Quintino Cianfaglione came to Hartford from his native Abruzzo, Italy as a confident and headstrong 20-year-old searching for the American dream. Fifty years later, on a day he called “one of the most important” of his life, he said the dream had finally come true. Cianfaglione was officially sworn in Tuesday as the honorary consul of Italy in Conn...
Author Talk Video: “From Italy to Boston’s North End – The Photographs of Anthony V. Riccio 1972-1982”
Anthony V. Riccio recently presented photographs from his book From Italy to Boston’s North End – The Photographs of Anthony V. Riccio 1972-1982. The book documents the arc of the Italian American immigration experience with images of daily life taken in the rural villages of southern Italy to everyday life in Boston’s North End during the 1970’s...
Lidia Bastianich’s new book aimed at getting people to reconnect over Italian dishes
Lidia will be in R.I. at Dave’s Marketplace on Saturday. Anybody who loves food and watches TV has no doubt watched and listened to Lidia Bastianich. For years she’s been cooking with her mother or daughter, or alone, creating Italian dishes that can be re-created in the home kitchen. For those who don’t believe that, Bastianich and her daughter Ta...