Mainland Italian ice company to open first Honolulu store next week
Pennsylvania-based Rita’s Italian Ice will open its first Hawaii location on Tuesday in the Tiki Family Fun Center in Honolulu. According to the company, the brand is the largest Italian Ice concept in the world with 600 stores. The Honolulu location will be owned by Dean Park, who plans to open several more locations in the state. “After hearing r...
New Vincenzo Trattoria stays true to its Southern Italian roots
Italian-born chefs who ply their time-honored trade in America are known to be rigid in their conviction to serve Italian cuisine that is as authentic as possible. That’s a good thing. Why change how things have been done by generations of cooks? There’s plenty of that newfangled Italian fare in this country, anyway. You know what I’m talking about...
Fresco Italiano's shortrib tortellini might be the perfect plate of pasta
It’s a question worthy of true debate: What’s the best pasta shape? You could argue that certain noodles are built to handle certain sauces. You could make a case that stuffed pasta creations like ravioli offer an extra dimension to the dish, but those tasty pillows don’t soak up their surroundings as well as a tender pile of pappardelle. It’s hard...
Restaurant Review: An Italian Stallion Rides Into the Former Terrine Space
Of all the world cuisines upon which Los Angeles might base its culinary personality, Italian is not the most obvious. Pasta and braised meats and pizza hardly fit in with the cliché of L.A.'s light and healthy eating habits, nor are they what come to mind when thinking of the appropriate food to complement our perpetually sunny weather. Yet that's...
Little Italy From City to Strip: Rao’s Italian Brunch With Frank Pellegrino Jr.
Given the original Rao’s is over a century old in New York City and the Caesars Palace outpost just turned 10, the brand has become an American institution. You can even buy their famed pasta sauce across the country at most grocers. But there is always something about walking through the doors of Rao’s. And while the New York original may be the h...
Dinner, Italian Style
Yes, please leave the smoked tomato broth.” That’s how we found ourselves answering our server at Nick’s Italian Café in McMinnville on a recent dining excursion. The broth, a wonderful, light ruby liquid with a lovely kick of garlic at the end, accompanied the steamed mussels. They sat in an irregular jumble in a shallow white bowl, surrounded by...
Plantone's serves up an Italian sub worth fighting for
I wanted to come out with a sub that’s as powerful as anything in town, but at the same time have other elements as well,” owner Glenn Plantone tells me of the vision behind his recently opened Plantone’s Italian Market on Warm Springs just west of Durango. Let’s start with the initial goal in that statement. Plantone does indeed make the best Ital...
Fox Restaurant’s North Italia Expands to Las Vegas
The parent company of the Hard Rock Hotel’s hit gastro-pub Culinary Dropout is confirmed to be bringing its spin on Italian dining to Las Vegas. Fox Restaurant Concept's North Italia will take over 5,518 square feett of interior space, plus 1,679 square feet of outdoor patio at the Rampart Commons retail center, a couple of doors down from Honey Sa...
Zesty Italian Marchesi honors homeland in Hood River
On a spring weekend getaway to Hood River several years ago, my husband and I, along with friends, happened upon Marchesi Vineyards & Winery. We noticed the friendly atmosphere immediately. The tasting room with its numerous seating areas, both inside and out, felt like home. Tableside service started with a light Bianco wine and an antipasto board...
Get a Slice of Naples at Hearthstone
Flatbreads of sorts, crafted with dough and baked in a hearth, may date back to ancient times, but 18th-century Naples is the birthplace of pizza as we know it today. Renowned chef Enrico Sautto and his family have been making pizza Napoletana, since 1870. Today, he can be found in front of Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar’s large ovens demonstrating t...
Carbone's got a glamorous appeal
Old-school Italian: The phrase conjures up images of 1950s and ’60s New York restaurants, peopled by glamorous stars, with attentive servers hovering nearby. And, indeed, that’s the feel you get at Carbone at Aria, where the “captains” take charge of your table, giving you personal attention and making you feel like you’re a celebrity. Carbone in L...
Passion fuels family-run, upscale Casa Mia in Scottsdale
She was raised in Italy in a family that loved to cook. Her father ran restaurants in their homeland. But occasionally, Hera Ambrosio, co-owner of Casa Mia Italian restaurant, is stumped by a new customer asking for shrimp scampi or chicken Vesuvio. “People ask me for dishes that I don’t know,” Ambrosio said in an energetic voice that flaunts an al...