Prince is poised to celebrate 100 years of pasta history
It is said that Eskimos have eight words for snow, and the French have a dozen words for love. But in Italy, an uber chef could fill a small dictionary with the many different words for pasta. (Think penne, ziti, and cavatappi just to name a few.) Here in Boston, in the days when pasta was still spaghetti, few brands have been more renowne...
Italian Cultural Center of Western Massachusetts plans Prime Rib Christmas Dinner
The Italian Cultural Center of Western Massachusetts' annual Prime Rib Christmas Dinner will be held on Dec. 12 at 56 Margaret St. in Springfield. The event will open with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m., and dinner will begin at 7 p.m. The full menu includes antipasto, garden salad, baked stuffed shrimp, prime rib, roasted potatoes, ziti, desse...
Cooking Vacations founder Lauren Birmingham Piscitelli
It came as no surprise to Lauren Birmingham Piscitelli that public relations executives were among the most stressed out people in the country. A mover and shaker in the cutthroat world of Boston PR, she felt it in her shoulders and in the pit of her stomach. That stress led her to seek solace in Sorrento, Italy, in 2001. That stress also helped he...
New York Times Review of Cotto's: Thumbs up
The New York Times' Patricia Brooks gave Cotto's Wine Bar and Pizzeria a "Very Good" rating in the newspaper's region section, published Friday online. The Italian restaurant at 51 Bank St. has "had a good bit of success" at creating "the ambience of a Roman trattoria in downtown Stamford," Brooks wrote in her review. Read more &...
Pauli’s North End – Wicked Fresh. Crazy Good.
In the words of owner Paul Barker, Pauli's North End serves "wicked fresh food that always tastes crazy good." Ingredients that are farm fresh and high quality make even the simplest sandwiches stand out, proving Barker right. Barker comes from a long line of legendary Boston food purveyors. Serving the best as a family has been their business for...
Italian Cultural Center to offer limoncello-making class on June 20
by Sarah Platanitis The Italian Cultural Center of Western Mass will offer a limoncello-making class on Saturday, June 20, from noon - 2 p.m. at their location at 56 Margaret Street in Springfield. Learn to make the delicious Italian lemon liqueur from an instructor that will guide the class through a hands-on demonstr...
Stamford bakery grew by adding a dash of family
Ugo DiMare enjoys baking and loves his family, but never dreamed of mixing the two. Running a bakery shop is so much work, DiMare thought. He did not want to burden his daughters. Despite his worries, they blended. "We used to sweat to make a $100," said one daughter, Maria DiMare-McGrath, 59. "My father felt it was a hard life, and he d...
Dining review: Rosalina is a new Italian classic in Providence
By Jenna Pelletier The last thing Rhode Island needed was another Italian-American restaurant, I thought. All angles seemed to be covered, from the classic Federal Hill restaurants to upscale Al Forno to no-frills Mike's Kitchen in Cranston. What more could another one offer? Come to find out, the relatively new Rosalina, in downtown Pro...
A fig tree grows in Maine
Ten years ago, Don Endrizzi planted a fig tree outside his home, which sits a long stone's throw from Maine's largest salt marsh. Beach plum, cord grass, quack grass, foxtail barley, chaffy sedge, glasswort, poison ivy and cattails – also mosquitoes – call the marsh home. Fig trees do not. Home is the Mediterranean, where the fruits of the...
Luca Mignogna: The ultimate mozzarella artisan
by Stefano Salimbeni Every day — even before the actual 'day' technically starts — Luca Mignogna drives about five miles on gorgeous country roads in Northeastern Massachusetts, winding around a charming pond nestled in thick woods, to what he considers a magical source. "You see, yesterday 'this' was not even on this earth, it was somewhe...
Italian Kisses: A Cannoli Wedding Memory
by Rita Esposito Watson Perhaps because our grandfather and his brothers ran a pastry shop in Connecticut, after moving back to Boston I became addicted to North End cannolis. When growing up, Grandma taught us that any argument could be settled once people sat at the table, ate grandpa's pastry, and drank her demitasse. Once in B...
Dominic's Forno, From Waltham's Longtime Italian Bakery & Deli, Is Headed for Cambridge
by Jacqueline Cain Ciro Maione, the owner and proprietor of Domenic's Italian Bakery & Deli in Waltham for 36 years, has a new project in the works. Domenic's Forno is looking to open up at 75-115 Binney St. near Kendall Square in East Cambridge, the newest licensing hearing agenda reveals. Maione said via email that he "look[s] f...