Cassata Cake: Elegant, creamy and oh so delicious at Bruno's NYC
Spending time in the prolific kitchens of Bruno's NYC Bakery in Dongan Hills means learning from the master himself, master pastry chef Biagio Settepani, as he walks an observer through the process of building Italian desserts. Take the cassata cake, a complex specialty of the Bruno house. The dessert, the pastry patriarch and his colleague/son Joe...
How the buzzy chef of Brooklyn’s Lilia is making Italian food healthy - starting inside her own kitchen
Getting a reservation at Brooklyn’s Lilia (the airy, gorgeous, industrial-chic Italian hotspot in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood) is no small feat. But if you’ve been lucky enough to taste renowned chef Missy Robbins’ dishes, you may have noticed one thing: It’s not your standard spaghetti and meatballs. Of course, that’s due to Robbins’ own...
Italian restaurant with 'bring your own wine policy' now open at Destiny USA
A new Italian restaurant with a "bring your own wine policy" is now open at Destiny USA. Bambino's Bistro is located on the third level of Destiny USA, next to Margaritaville. Family-owned and operated, Bambino's provides Italian cuisine for guests in a family-friendly environment. The restaurant offers pizzas and hearty pasta, as well as a variety...
Evelina Beautifully Represents a New Wave of Brooklyn Italian Bistros
A new type of bistro is sweeping Brooklyn. Instead of being inspired by French cooking, its menu tends to be more Italian, while preserving the easygoing ambiance, small scale, and mid-range prices of the classic neighborhood French bistro. Depending upon wood-burning ovens and sometimes making pizzas as a sideline, some of these places have been i...
Food Truck ‘Wandering Dago’ Wins at Free-Speech Case
A New York food truck whose name includes an old-fashioned slur for Italians won a First Amendment challenge Wednesday against state regulators. Wandering Dago is the food truck business in question, and its menu is similarly themed, hawking sandwiches with names like Goombah and Polack. A popular wedding caterer, the company sued in Albany after N...
Panzerotti Bites coming to Brooklyn
How about an Italian snack that’s packed like a French crepe with either sweet or savory goodies before it’s fried like a Spanish empanada? It’s panzerotti we’re talking about, of course, and Panzerotti Bites is coming to Brooklyn at 235 Smith St. to serve up the half-moon shaped pockets of doughy goodness. Vittoria Lattanzio and Pasquale De Ruvo,...
Joe Campanale is reinventing high-low dining all over again
The hottest reservation in New York City right now isn’t some old-school grand dame or Michelin-starred Manhattan boite. It’s Fausto, a laid-back Italian restaurant on a wide, commercial avenue in Brooklyn, tucked between two quiet, residential neighborhoods. Fausto opened on December 9. It was a curious move for owner and beverage director Joe Cam...
Pizza mitzvah! Marine Park pizzeria goes kosher
A Marine Park pizzeria with a long tradition in the Brooklyn pizza scene has decided to adopt a tradition that’s even older — it’s going kosher. Vinny Fontana’s father Francesco opened up the first The Original Pizza location in Canarsie back in 1964, and the family still has pizzerias in Canarsie, in Bay Ridge, and in Flatlands, as well as the Ave...
This Queens bakery is making doughnut cannoli
Holy Donnoli! Just when you thought cannoli couldn't get any better, a Queens bakery is giving the classic confection the hybrid dessert treatment. At Astoria's Vaccaro's Bakery, chef Vinny takes the Italian classic and turns it up to 11 by switching out the flaky fried pasty shell for a fluffy donut exterior. But the the self-professed Cake King o...
NYC-Based Italian Pizzeria Chain Comes To Forest Hills
An NYC-based Italian pizzeria chain whose locations dot the city - and other parts of the globe - will soon open its first Queens location in Forest Hills, employees confirmed to Patch. Numero 28 Pizzeria, which specializes in authentic Neapolitan pizza, announced on its Facebook page Monday that it would be opening a new location in Forest Hills "...
Arthur Avenue Food Tour With Danielle Oteri and the Italian American Podcast
There is something very enchanting about snow, especially when it’s snowing on Arthur Avenue during Christmastime. We had the luxury of being a part of the exclusive Arthur Avenue food tour with Danielle Oteri and Anthony Fasano of The Italian American Podcast. Besides tantalizing our taste buds, we were given some first hand looks at what goes on...
The Absolute Best Italian Hero in New York
Italian heroes (or subs, combos, or sandwiches) are made with cured meats, whole muscle and otherwise. Cheese is required, with greenery. Oil and vinegar, the Mulder and Scully of the sandwich world, should figure in, as should some kind of admirably architectural volume. And no matter its exact size, it should always call for an extra fistful of n...