At Fortuna's, family style never went out of style
At a time where everything seems to be changing, restaurants that stay the course as others come and go take on an extra measure of gravitas. They are a rock families can return to, to ground themselves and recharge. Returning to those places after a time away, to find the satisfaction of their cooking undiminished, is like coming home. Except you...
A Food Pilgrimage to Umbria with the Owner of New York's Legendary Il Buco
Il Buco owner Donna Lennard makes a yearly pilgrimage to Italy’s heartland in search of the best fresh pasta, cave-aged pecorino, and fish pulled straight from the Adriatic. There are a few reasons Il Buco has been on every New Yorker’s short list for the past 23 years: Eating there feels like going to a dinner party in the antique-filled, candleli...
Grandma vs. Sicilian pizza: Do you know the difference?
Just in case there was a shred of doubt remaining, rest assured that Staten Islanders know their pizza. We went out to two local pizzerias with the intention to stump you with two seemingly similar but vastly different square pies: Grandma vs. Sicilian. Eaters at Metro Pizzeria in West Brighton and Nunzio's of Grant City gave us the run down on the...
Italy’s Most Famous Pizzamaker Takes on NYC
Though he's unknown to most Americans, Gino Sorbillo is one of the most famous pizzaioli in Italy, with regular guest appearances on MasterChef Italia, three restaurants in Naples, and a reputation for having fought the mafia — beating back crime in Centro Storico, the neighborhood that’s home to his flagship pizzeria. Here in New York, Sorbillo wi...
Keeping an Italian tradition alive while it becomes newly mainstream, by Mary Ann Pietanza
When I was growing up in Red Hook, our family garden was an integral part of our life. Practically everyone in the neighborhood had one. It was pretty much the norm that if you were Italian, there was a garden of some sort in your backyard, side yard, front yard, or even on a piece of purchased property elsewhere. If there wasn’t a yard available,...
A Taste of Portside Italy Comes to the South Bronx
Luigi Ghidetti, the executive chef at Porto Salvo, hails from Terracina, a seaside city south of Rome, and draws his inspiration from Italian port taverns. That much is evident in the restaurant's nautical theme, which includes a 1921 replica diver's helmet above the register, port holes in the wall, a ship engine telegraph, a captain’s wheel, fish...
Luigi’s Old World Market & Cafe’s aim: simple, fresh, delicious
There’s no shortage of Italian-American restaurants and cafés in Geneva, where there is apparently a segment that just can’t get enough of a taste of the Old World. And now the city can boast another entry into its long list of Italian eateries: Luigi’s Old World Market & Café, which opened last week in a spot where hot dogs once ruled. Luigi’s is...
Mamma Guidara's Is Back for the Season
Right in time for fall, the Italian-American Sunday dinner pop-up at The Nomad Bar is back. In case you missed it last year, Mamma Guidara's is a family-style four-course meal that pays homage to the now-defunct NYC institution that was Mamma Leone's. You can find it at the NoMad Bar every Sunday—hard to miss a full on Italian feast complete with r...
Jersey native honors her parents through cooking
Nothing brings out the word-of-mouth reviews like good food. Paige and Ryan Ringer celebrated their good fortunes Saturday at the Manhattan Farmers Market by spreading the gospel of Sadie and Joe’s Sicilian Oven. “We just took the last biscotti,” Paige said. “She has the best biscotti in town.” “It’s probably the best I’ve ever had,” Ryan said. Tho...
Hidden New York: The Secret Door in Little Italy
For the past 91 years, Little Italy has been home to the yearly San Gennaro festival. The feast features some of the best Italian food around with vendors who wake up each and every day early to prep for the thousands that flock daily to the area. In the middle of it all, along Mulberry Street sits a simple red door four steps below street level. I...
Brooklyn Pizza Hotspot Roberta’s Has Every Intention of Opening in Culver City
Crazy popular Brooklyn restaurant Roberta’s is sliding into Culver City’s Platform project sometime next year. Multiple sources have confirmed to Eater that the move, while previously only rumored, is indeed happening after all. While not as low-key a location as the Brooklyn original, this West Coast iteration of Roberta’s certainly won’t hurt for...
Villa Milano brings familial Italian atmosphere to Manhasset
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. That’s the feeling in Villa Milano, a decades-old Italian restaurant in Manhasset owned by the Bekteshi family that serves family recipes and focuses on customer service. Co-owner Don Bekteshi said running a restaurant with three generations of a family isn’t a piece of cake, but his family...