Chazz Palminteri does his one-man version of ‘A Bronx Tale’ at the Garde
If it weren’t true, the story of how actor Chazz Palminteri got the show he wrote, “A Bronx Tale,” made as a film would seem like a Hollywood fable. In the mid-1980s, Palminteri was acting but not getting the kind of roles he wanted. Taking his fate into his own hands, he penned a one-man play inspired by his childhood and the Bronx neighborhood wh...
I AM Books is hiring!
Join our team of awesome booksellers. We're hiring! I AM Books is seeking passionate, friendly, reliable, self-motivated Booksellers for the relaunch of its renowned Italian American bookstore and cultural hub in the heart of Boston’s historic North End neighborhood.Part-time and Full-time opportunities available! Click here for more details and to...
Bar Volpe opening this weekend
Karen Akunowicz — James Beard Best Chef Northeast and owner of Fox & the Knife – is opening another restaurant in the neighborhood! Bar Volpe will feature Southern Italian cuisine – think seafood, vegetables and of course, pasta! The 5200 square foot restaurant will feature a wood fire oven and a glassed encased pasta shop and will be located in t...
Billy Manzo Pizza pivots to frozen pizza; will close Federal Hill Pizza in Providence
Billy Manzo Pizza is launching in 2022, with Rhode Island’s own Italian Certified Master Pizzaiolo pulling from his roots to take advantage of the frozen pizza market. In order to respond to the needs of this new venture, he will phase out his Providence “Federal Hill Pizza” location, but maintain his Warren, Rhode Island location as the default...
How New Haven churches, schools connected Wooster Square to Italy
I always wondered how it came to be that there were five churches within the geographic area of Wooster Square. One of them, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (now St. Paul and St. James), on the corner of Chapel and Olive streets, was actually a vestige from the time when the area was predominantly Yankee and Protestant. It is a beautiful stone church v...
Harvard Square’s New Italian Restaurant Bar Enza Is ‘Not Your Grandmother’s Trattoria’
BarBar Enza, Harvard Square’s newest Italian restaurant, is “not your grandmother’s trattoria,” says chef Mark Ladner, who is collaborating on the project with the Lyons Group (Rochambeau, Scampo, Sonsie, etc.). Located inside the Charles Hotel in the space of two prior Italian restaurants, Rialto and Benedetto, Bar Enza is a “neo-trattoria” with a...
Connecticut Boxing Legend Helps Prep Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio Production
Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions has contacted Connecticut native John Scully, a former boxer and longtime trainer. Scully is training Band of Brothers actor James Madio to play Willie Pep, the late great featherweight champion who grew up in Hartford and Middletown. The Iceman, John Scully won Outstanding Boxer awards in 1987 and 1988 an...
Culinary industry veterans open Primavera Pizzeria in Portland
A lifelong resident has teamed up with a local pizza expert to open up a new restaurant on Main Street called Primavera Pizzeria. Melissa Crouch-Arroyo was born and raised in Portland. Her first job was washing dishes at Manning’s, a now-closed restaurant that operated just a few doors down from the business she now owns at 222 Main St. This was th...
La Vita Dolce: Bringing the North End flavor to Tewksbury
As Tewksbury loses one bakery with the closing of Mirabella’s, it looks forward to the opening of another with La Vita Dolce. According to co-owner Todd Arsenault, “The Life Sweet” will be a bakery and fast casual restaurant offering bread, traditional Italian bakery items, bakery pizza, a deli, premade food items, homemade pasta, and much more. T...
Siena Ristorante Opens Second Location at Hotel Zero Degrees in Norwalk
The vacancy left by Mediterraneo at Norwalk’s branch of Hotel Zero Degrees has a new occupant. Siena Ristorante—owned by Pasquale Conte, Pietro Polini, along with new partners in executive chef Foster Lukas and general manager and longtime bartender Jonathan Rodriguez—have been open since early September serving upscale Northern Italian food that t...
Bakery owner catches her dream: Giuseppina’s offers sweet treats and more with Italian flair
Walking into Giuseppina’s Italian Bakery on Sullivan Avenue, the aroma of freshly-baked cookies, pastries, and danishes wafts through the door, inviting guests to come in and try a bite of something sweet or savory. “We’ve been really busy the last four or five months with people going out,” owner Jenny Beaurivage said. “We’re getting a lot of larg...
Branford's Mama Basta: Food 'good enough for your family'
Family dinners at Grandma Mary’s were a Sunday staple. Between 15 and 40 cousins, aunts and uncles would gather around the table to indulge in good home-cooked meals. Nicole Ball remembers this family tradition from years gone by and carries it on, albeit on a smaller scale, with her husband, Joe, and their three children — Joseph, 9; John, 7 and J...