Taste of Chicago: Italian Beef in Grand Rapids
Italian beef sandwiches are the past, the present, and the future. While this iconic dish has been a household name in Chicago for nearly a century, the popularity exploded with the success of The Bear, a Hulu show centered on an Italian beef shop. Even before the show, fans of the sandwich were frequently passionate enough to spread the love by op...
Lake Orion’s Palazzo di Bocce Offers Bocce Fun and Italian Eats
If you had to guess the second most played game in the world, chances are you wouldn’t come up with bocce. But an 81-year-old former contractor, who also happens to be a U.S. national bocce champion, knows its appeal, especially when it comes to building community. Located just off Lapeer Road in Lake Orion, Palazzo di Bocce is an upscale Italian r...
A Modern Italian Restaurant Debuts Where Cactus Bar & Grill Stood For Three Decades
Cactus Bar & Grill stood in the South Loop financial district for more than three decades before the pandemic forced the neighborhood institution to close in 2020. Now, a veteran Chicago chef hopes to tempt visitors with comforting piles of delicate orecchiette and plump raviolo stuffed with pecorino and guanciale. Cristian Mendoza and Petros Papat...
Holiday Market at Troy Italian eatery features handmade cookies, cakes and specialty items
Elisabetta Balzola describes Cucina Lab Torino not as a restaurant, but as a “little corner of Italy” in Michigan. The chef and owner recently marked the third anniversary of the almost hidden place on Crooks at Wattles in Troy that's housed in the same building and behind the Troy Dental School. Balzola’s annual holiday market is set for 11 a.m.-...
Russo Ristorante-Mercato opens at Tanger Outlets
Russo Ristorante-Mercato has opened at the Tanger Outlets near Grand Rapids. The Russo family, with a long history of running restaurants in the Grand Rapids area, opened up the spot, which offers an Italian fine dining restaurant and an Italian grocery store. Guests can find items like gourmet meats, fresh bread and cheese at the grocery store. Th...
Piazza Pelino Brings Fresh Focaccia and Gelato to Short North in Columbus, OH
Last week the owners of Pelino’s Pasta debuted a new sandwich and gelato shop in the Short North called Piazza Pelino. It takes over the former Piece of Cake space facing Warren Street, next to The Lox Bagel Shop and across from the Graduate Hotel. The shop debuted just in time for Holiday Hop on Saturday, which drew in huge crowds and closed down...
First Look: Piazza Pelino Brings Taste of Italy to Short North
A little taste of Italy has arrived in the Short North. Piazza Pelino officially opened its doors at 772 N. High St. on Wednesday, November 29. The goal of the aptly-named spot is to transport guests to an Italian piazza – where you’ll normally find a gelateria and easy, portable foods like focaccia sandwiches, says Co-Owner Vinny Pelino who runs t...
Michigan woman's artistic, homemade pasta creations bring her closer to family roots
Theresa Duford knows there’s something special about fresh homemade pasta. “My love of pasta started at birth. It's like inherited when you're Italian, I think,” joked Duford. Aside from the incredible taste, pasta is one thing that connects this metro Detroiter to her family roots. “I grew up with fresh pasta from my grandma, who came here from I...
Spacca Napoli ranked among world’s best pizzerias
A beloved Chicago pizzeria was recently ranked among the 100 best in the world by the Italian culinary website 50 Top Pizza. Spacca Napoli (1769 W. Sunnyside Ave., Chicago) came in at No. 93 on a list that included pizzerias from France, the Philippines, Spain, Japan, Denmark and more. Diego Vitagliano Pizzeria in Naples and I Masanielli in Caserta...
Owners of Geraci’s to open full restaurant in downtown Willoughby
The owners of Geraci’s have plans to open a full-service Italian restaurant in downtown Willoughby, another new investment in the city. The Spoth family hopes to have the restaurant open sometime this month in the former Dog’s on Erie location, 4127 Erie St. According to Economic Development Director Tom Thielman, the new location is a cozy, inviti...
Capri Italian Bakery in Dearborn marks 50-year celebration with 50% off
It takes quality products and truly loyal customers to carry a business half a century Armed with soft pepperoni rolls dripping with cheese and fluffy, plump meatball sandwiches, that has been Capri bakery's formula for success. A staple at 4832 Greenfield Rd. just north of Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, Capri has developed an almost cult-like follow...
Provolino, affordable Italian restaurant, opening in South Hampden in coming weeks
With the opening of Provolino, a cost-accessible, neighborhood Italian restaurant in Denver’s Hampden South, less than a month away, co-owner and chef Jeff Schwing took time to reflect on his unorthodox journey to get to this point. Schwing helped open Michelin-starred chef Ludo Lefebvre’s French eatery Chez Maggy as chef de cuisine, after previous...