A Brief Sketch: Onorio Ruotolo
Meeting friends for Sunday dinner in Manhattan over the weekend, I stumbled across an interesting facade at 231 East 14th Street half-hidden behind some trees and the building's fire escape. Unsure of its history, I snapped a few photos and continued on my way. Later that night I went online to try and learn more about the work. Thanks to Ephemera...
Pino Bianco at Turning Stone offers Italian food worth the drive
Have you ever put your order for starters and mains in at a restaurant and then, after finishing bread and starters, bet that you wouldn't be able to eat your main course? If we were sharing a table with you at Turning Stone's Pino Bianco, we would take that bet. Even though we were satisfied when our meal had barely begun, we finished nearly all o...
Talking Cuisines and Cultures with Fabio Parasecoli
Fabio Parasecoli, 52, an internationally recognized authority on the intersection of food and culture, commutes from his high-rise apartment in Fort Lee to Greenwich Village in Manhattan, where he is an associate professor and director of the Food Studies Initiatives program at the New School. Born and raised in Rome, he spent two years studying co...
Forget New York Fashion Week: Italian Wine Week should take center stage
A wine seminar I attended in New York recently, focused on Barolo and Barbaresco. The Master Class instructor was Ian D’Agata, the director of the Rome-based International Wine Academy that he started in 2002. For over 25 years D’Agata has written about wine and is the 2007 recipient of the prestigious award for “Best Young Italian Wine Journalist....
Utica Greens: A Central New York Staple With Multiple Identities
They don’t normally call Utica greens Utica greens in Utica. “Somebody calls here and says they want Utica greens, I tell them we don’t have those,” said Sal Borruso, owner of the Chesterfield Restaurant in this city of 60,000 in central New York. In 1988, Chesterfield’s began serving the hearty dish of escarole, fried prosciutto, hot cherry pepper...
Mio Vino offers casual, fine fare with Italian flair
No restaurant can be all things to all people but Mio Vino bridges the fine dine/casual dine divide very well. There aren’t a lot of restaurant choices available in this small village nestled in the beautiful countryside, so if you want an upscale Italian dinner with appropriate wine pairings, you’ll want to go to Mio Vino. Want a burger? Mio Vino....
Reliving the Authentic Italian Panino in New York City
It’s noon in Florence, and you find a spot on the steps of the Duomo. After a bitterly cold winter, you feel your skin gladly soak up the sun shining down on you. You watch passersby marvel at Brunelleschi’s masterpiece. It’s lunchtime and you’re starved. As you bite into the salt-less bread of your panino you feel the flavors of the fresh savory m...
Portico by Fabio Viviani restaurant opens at del Lago Resorts and Casino
The del Lago Resort & Casino opened the Portico by Fabio Viviani restaurant on Thursday. The chef is known for his Old World Italian inspired foods and handmade pastas. Viviani made his name in the Bravo networks show Top Chef. Portico in Italian means porch, the gateway to the home. He said the Finger Lakes region reminds him of his home in Floren...
La Vigna Italian restaurant
A meal at La Vigna Italian Restaurant is a treat that shouldn’t be missed. Located on Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills, where parking is easy, La Vigna has been serving homemade, regional Italian cuisine made with love and pride by Chef Giuseppe Vitale for the last 15 years. Everyone who visits La Vigna is enveloped by warmth and the sensation t...
Mac and cheese with meatballs is winner for Delmar man
Stephen Piorkowski of Delmar, who won the home-cooks competition at the first Mac-n-Cheese Bowl in 2010, emerged victorious again last weekend during the eighth annual event, when his Stephen's Best Italian-American Mac and Cheese with Meatballs was chosen by judges as the best among 11 entries by home cooks. Piorkowski's recipe is below. Druthers...
Never Tried Tomato Pie? Then Get Yourself to Utica Right Now
A lot of people don’t get tomato pie, the hyper-regional, served-cold, thick-spongy-crust-pizza-bread more commonly sold out of bakeries than pizzerias. But for those of us who grew up with it, it’s a magical thing: a masterful balance of pillowy dough, slightly sweet sauce, and a savory dusting of parm or romano cheese, best eaten cold out of the...
OpenTable app ranks Bocelli among 'Top 10 Best Italian Restaurants'
Now serving good news: Congratulations to one of Staten Island's own. OpenTable.com, a popular digital restaurant-reservation service, has ranked Bocelli Ristorante of Grasmere among the "Top 10 Best Italian Restaurants" in the New York/Tri-State area. Foodies use the online service to find, explore, reserve, and manage restaurant reservations free...