Sant Ambroeus Showcases 1950s Italian Glamour in Palm Beach
One of New York’s best-loved restaurants, Sant Ambroeus (340 Royal Poinciana Way, Palm Beach), which has three locations in the city and a fourth in Southampton, has finally expanded outside the state, opening an outpost at the new Royal Poinciana Plaza in Palm Beach. After a little over a month, a table at Sant Ambroeus is already one of the tough...
Passion8 is changing its name, and more
Get ready to say goodbye to Passion8, Luca and Jessica Annunziata’s Elizabeth Avenue restaurant, and say ciao to Luca/A Modern Italian Kitchen, a reset they hope will bring them back toward the food they started out to make when they got to Charlotte 12 years ago. “It’s kind of been a long time coming,” she said after sending out a restaurant newsl...
Monday Meeting: John Alfano of Doris Italian Market & Bakery
John Alfano’s parents bought Doris Italian Market & Bakery in 1982 when the specialty supermarket had a single location in Broward County. The family-owned chain opened its second location two years later in Sunrise. Four more stores followed, including a 24,000-square-foot location in North Palm Beach, which opened in the Shoppes at City Centre on...
Valentine’s Day Restaurant Pick Miami: Forte dei Marmi
Antonio Mellino opened a low key version of his Quattro Passi restaurant all the way back in 1983 – and over the years, it came to not only secure two Michelin stars, but to also be considered by many to be the top dining destination n the entire Amalfi Coast of Italy. Celebrities – including Beyonce, Jay-Z and assorted British royals – have fl...
Three stories of Italian food and wine are coming to Brickell
If the Brickell City Centre hopes to be the center of the neighborhood, then the upcoming three-story Italian food hall hopes to be its epicenter. La Centrale (pronounced Chen-TRAH-leh) is the newly revealed name of the multilevel vertical mall that will house a host of Italian-inspired restaurants, cafes, a bar, a wine shop and a cooking school ov...
Destination: Bakery La Dolce Vita in Rolesville
A Go Ask Mom reader tipped me off to this place many months ago. Over winter break, I finally got there with my kids, who were glad to be in tow for this one. Bakery La Dolce Vita is a small bakery in downtown Rolesville, less than a mile from the town's Main Street Park. Opened a year and a half ago, the owners have been busy whipping up Italian d...
No one listened when he said to open a regional Italian spot. So he did it himself
Giancarlo “Wendy” Cacciatori can take a hint. When a restaurant group hired him as a consultant to come to Miami, eat for two weeks and then advise them what sort of Italian restaurant they should open, he didn’t vacillate: regional Italian. Bologna, to be specific. They didn’t listen. But they should have. So Cacciatori, who was born in Bologna, d...
La Masseria brings regional Italian eats to PGA’s dining drag
PGA Boulevard will get a fancy, regional Italian restaurant Saturday night when La Masseria hosts an invitation-only party to celebrate its debut. An outpost of a popular New York theater-district restaurant and its midtown Manhattan sibling, La Masseria opens to the public early next week on Palm Beach Gardens’ main drag. Located in the same wes...
NY Pizza Spot serves Italian specialties
Chef Emanuele Ferraluolo, born near Napoli, earned his culinary chops in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Europe before landing his current position as chef of NY Pizza Spot and Italian Kitchen in West Melbourne. Among the well-versed chef's many specialties is the pappardelle al' amalfitana ($12.95), a special that features homemade e...
Casa D'Angelo to the rescue
Before I catalog the charms of Casa D'Angelo, let me tell you how chef Angelo Elia's wonderful Boca Raton restaurant became the subject of this review. Patience, please. In case you haven't noticed, Boca loves Italian like Miami loves Cuban. From Old World dining rooms with tuxedoed waiters to mom-and-pop pizza joints with a guy in a...
Whoa, Mamma: Clearwater deli personality publishes a cookbook
Line your dinner table with an Italian feast of fried calamari, fresh pasta and tiramisu. Nunziata Pisani, better known as Mamma, is sharing culinary secrets with her new cookbook, Cookin with Mamma. The eighth of nine children, Pisani grew up in a small village outside Naples, Italy, called Contursi. She helped her family on a dairy farm with...
In Fort Lauderdale, Jack is back with new Mancini
Jack Mancini has reincarnated his namesake restaurant not far from the original he ran for nine years. He created a contemporary Italian menu with executive chef Claudio Sandri including crudo, antipasti, pizza, pasta and secondi that are artfully composed. There's also mozzarella pulled at tableside and served with heirloom tomatoes and p...