Slow Wine comes to Houston (March 5) and why that’s a really, really big deal (at least to me)
For the last two years, Italy’s “Slow Wine tour” has come to Texas. When I first moved to the state in 2008, that would have been nearly unthinkable. At the time, Texas and its three major wine destinations — Houston, Dallas, and Austin — were part of an “emerging” as opposed to “established” market for fine wine. As one prominent Texas-based wine...
The Happy Italian: A pizzeria with white-tablecloth fare
A surprise can be good or bad, right? The Happy Italian Pizzeria, a modest-looking restaurant on Jefferson Highway in Harahan, was a good surprise for me. On the advice of the Where NOLA Eats Facebook group members, we walked in to see the cooks at work in the open kitchen, sliding pizzas into a giant oven. We planned to order a pizza, maybe a sala...
Fort Worth Italian fave makes Texas Monthly's latest best new restaurant list
Piattello Italian Kitchen, chef Marcus Paslay's southwest Fort Worth restaurant/cafe, is one of Texas Monthly's picks for best new restaurants in Texas. The restaurant, which opened in January 2017 in the Waterside shopping center, slid in at No. 10 — no slouch in a state this big. "I’m shocked — shocked — that the arancini here have not been desig...
Say 'feed me' once again: flavors of beloved Tony Angello’s to return in Metairie
Before Frank Catalanotto knew just where he’d open his new restaurant, he knew exactly what he’d be cooking and he had a name nailed down too. Nephew’s Ristorante will be a tribute to his family and its long history cooking for New Orleans. The “nephew” refers to Catalanotto himself. His uncle is the late Tony Angello. The new restaurant will serve...
Cafe Giovanni's Duke LoCicero to run N'Tini's in Mandeville
Duke LoCicero, who operated Cafe Giovanni in the French Quarter for 26 years before closing it in 2017, has taken over as executive chef at the newly-reopened N'Tini's Restaurant in Mandeville. LoCicero said a new, revamped N'Tini's menu will be unveiled Wednesday (Feb. 7). It will include some of the popular Creole Italian dishes from Cafe Giovann...
TA Restaurant Group Opens Fazoli's in Oklahoma City
The TA Restaurant Group announced the opening of a new Fazoli’s restaurant in Oklahoma City West located at I-40, Exit 140 (South Morgan Rd.), in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The new Fazoli’s will serve their delicious variety of classic Italian dishes, baked pastas, pizza, Submarinos sandwiches, entree salads and desserts—along with their unlimited si...
Italian restaurant chain shutters west Little Rock eatery open since 1994
An Italian restaurant chain has shuttered its outlet in west Little Rock after nearly 25 years in business. A recorded message Monday via Romano’s Macaroni Grill’s phone number confirmed the closure at 11100 W. Markham St. The Romano’s location in Little Rock was the only one in Arkansas. Around the time it opened in the mid-1990s, the Markham Stre...
Dough Pizzeria Napoletana
Some like it hot. Like 800+ degrees kind of hot. That’s the temperature at which the wood-fired oven at Dough Pizzeria Napoletana fires up its pizzas in only 90 seconds. The Neapolitan style of pizza making is not new to the Dallas metro, but it’s pretty new to Plano, as Dough introduced authentic Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani (APN) certified...
New Market 'Italian American Grocery Co.' Debuts In The Heights
A new grocery store and Italian spot, offering beer, wine and spirits and more, has made its debut in the neighborhood. The newcomer to the Heights, called Italian American Grocery Co., is located at 3605 White Oak Dr. This new grocer is the latest project from restaurateur Louie Comella, who also owns Gelazzi, the eatery next door that is known fo...
Cake Boss Restaurant Set to Open at La Cantera Next Week
Buddy V's Ristorante, the Italian-American eatery from Buddy "Cake Boss" Valastro, will open its doors to San Antonio on Monday, January 29, according to a press release. Located at The Shops at La Cantera, Buddy V's will serve up twists on Italian-American classics as well as desserts that made Valastro famous with his TLC show.The menu will inclu...
Leave Room for Dessert: A Roma adventure in Bonham
If you got all excited about the headline and thought you were going to get a review of the 1962 movie with Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue, you are going to be disappointed. You are also revealing your age. This review is of Roma Italian Restaurant in Bonham. I met a friend, who had recommended Roma, in Bonham last week for lunch. The restauran...
Palmieri Café Is Now Roasting Its Own Coffee
I should have known Corrado Palmieri would not stop at perfecting the pastries and gelato, but take the final element as well to its next logical amelioration and conclusion. In December, Palmieri, the owner of the Italian café that bears his name in the Dallas Farmers Market shed, unveiled a project he had been working on for over a year. “An expa...