Arancino Ristorante Italiano wins 1st in Star-Advertiser Hawaii’s Best Italian category
Recently taking 1st place in the Star-Advertiser's People's Choice Awards for Hawaii's Best Italian restaurant, Arancino Ristorante Italiano will be celebrating its recent success with a special menu. Created by Executive Chef Daisuke Hamamoto, Arancino's will also feature their food at the Best of Honolulu Festival, which is happening on July...
No fear in this Italian kitchen
There's a certain reverence for tradition in the preparation of Italian cuisine, and it would take a bold and brave chef to even consider challenging some of the cardinal rules of the Italian kitchen. I guess that makes Daniela Borella one of Southern Arizona's boldest and bravest.Born and raised in the Italian Riviera town of Imperia, Borella was...
Costa di Mare remains an inspired Vegas experience
There's a history of Vegas food obsessives freaking out when big restaurant changes go down at Wynn. Some declared doomsday when fine-dining mecca Alex closed in 2011. Others threw up their hands when chef Paul Bartolotta left his namesake Italian seafood palace last year. But remember that any fear (or loathing) is predicated on the fact...
Crudo owners to open a second restaurant in Phoenix
If one is good, then two must be better. The crew behind Crudo in Arcadia plans to open a second concept in central Phoenix this summer. The new venture, Okra, will be an ode to the kind of Southern cooking that chef Cullen Campbell experienced as a kid in Arkansas and a college student in Memphis. Fried chicken will be served tw...
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria toasts its food with its new signature wine, Mille Gradi
By Debbie Hall With the temperatures dipping to the 90s in Southern Nevada, Grimaldi's Pizzeria is keeping it a thousand degrees and that is not just for the ovens baking pizzas (which can reach 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit). The introduction of its new signature wine, Mille Gradi (which means a thousand degrees) is a red blend incorporating t...
First Taste: Sicilia Mia
Everyone's talking about it. Sicilia Mia (no website) is, apparently, the Italian restaurant most of Salt Lake has been waiting for and I'm late to the party. Distinctly unspectacular from the outside—Sicilia Mia is a bland storefront in an unattractive strip shopping mall—the small restaurant is always crowded. We made dinner reservations and sti...
Bravo Brio chef and district partner Lou Sassetti: Four great eats off the Strip
By Lou Sassetti Robin Leach's Note: I am very grateful to all the guest columnists who filled in for me while I was away this summer in Sardinia, Italy and Croatia, then with family in La Jolla, Calif. Thank you all, sincerely.I hope that our readers found the guest columns as interesting, entertaining and diverse as I did. They c...
Northwest Wine Academy guides students from vine to wine
The airy, light-filled tasting room at the Northwest Wine Academy would feel right at home in any of Seattle's swankier neighborhoods. Designed with a distinctly northwest aesthetic, the walls are partially lined with beautiful reclaimed redwood and the tasting counter is faced with scores of basalt rocks brought back from eastern Washington. Large...
Grimaldi’s pizza menu and atmosphere is pure authentic East Coast in Las Vegas
By Jan HoganGrimaldi's Pizzeria in Boca Park, 750 S. Rampart Blvd., Suite 7, boasts East Coast flavorings in its selections. When there's essentially one thing on the menu, it had better be good. Grimaldi's comes through with its Naples-born, thin-crust pizza, which Zagat has honored with Best Pizza awards more than once. The eatery has been a...
Spiga Cucina Italiana opens in Scottsdale
by Carey Sweet Craving whole roasted Sicilian-style pesce di giorno (fish of the day) and a glass of nice Portuguese wine? Find both at the new Spiga Cucina Italiana, which opened in mid-November at Pinnacle Peak and Miller roads in north Scottsdale. The Mediterranean-themed, rustic-modern restaurant is the work of Toronto restaur...
Gnocchi Bar Is Ready For People To Pronounce Gnocchi Properly
Lisa Nakamura's presence in the Pacific Northwest restaurant scene has taken her through downtown Seattle, Kirkland, Orcas Island, and now, with the opening of her Gnocchi Bar to Capitol Hill. Ever since her Allium on Orcas Island closed a few years ago, she's been working on bringing her gnocchi to Seattle. With the recent opening of Gnocchi Bar o...
Pescatore closes doors after 33 years in Hilo
By John Burnett A downtown Hilo institution for 23 years, Pescatore has closed its doors. The listed phone number for the longtime Italian restaurant at the corner of Keawe and Haili streets had a disconnect message when called on Thursday afternoon. A listed phone number for owner Jim Murphy had also been disconnected and his Facebook p...