Sam Greco's mom prayed to St. Francis for a son. He's now giving the saint's statue to San Antonio.
Sam Greco’s mother was blessed with two daughters and desired a son. After five miscarriages, she prayed to San Francesco di Paola, the patron saint of Italians and Italian-Americans. She said if she could carry a child to full term, she would dress her son as a monk each Sunday for five years. And she did. “She made the promise — like an Italian...
Un Caffè is a One-Stop Shop for Italian-Style Coffee in Houston
A new roastery and coffee bar in Midtown Houston called Un Caffè is giving guests a taste of Italian-style coffee with a distinct focus on craft and performance. Un Caffè Founder, Roaster and Barista Soonkack Kook also embraces the Italian cultural practice of greeting each guest at the bar. “They can watch every [drink-making] performance,” Kook...
IAP 272: we stand on the shoulders. A monument to the Sicilian sugar cane harvesters of Louisiana
Louisiana native Charles Marsala has done a lot to promote the history of Italian life in the Bayou State. From creating hours of documentary videos to a mobile app that provides a free walking tour of over sixty Italian American points of interest in and around the Crescent City, the President of the American Italian Federation of the Southeast n...
Meet the leading ladies of Tony's!
"I intend to go out with a fish in one hand and pasta in another," Tony Vallone once said. His namesake restaurant, Tony's, first opened in Houston in 1965. Over half a century, it grew from a small Italian spot into a fine dining institution. Tony's became a go-to spot for visiting dignitaries and celebrities from across the globe, including sever...
Bryan Museum honors Johnny Carrabba with Buck N' Ball award
Dignitaries, elected officials, bankers and other luminaries from Galveston County and Houston gathered Friday and Saturday to honor restaurateur Johnny Carrabba III as this year’s “Buck N’ Ball” award winner in an event at The Bryan Museum celebrating the Italian-American contribution to Texas history. Teamwork, staying hungry, perseverance and...
Emilia Romagna in Texas to open a new bridge to the U.S.
Emilia-Romagna is in Houston, Texas, to open a new bridge to the United States, where the region's exports have registered +74.6 percent in the last three years and a positive trade balance between exports and imports of more than 9 billion euros.In the great city of Texas - a state that if it were a nation would represent the ninth largest economy...
Amarillo Opera brings a western twist to a timeless tragedy with Verdi's 'Rigoletto'
The Amarillo Opera is putting a western twist on a classic tale including love, fate, revenge and the abuse of power in Verdi's "Rigoletto," set to be performed in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts for one night only, on Saturday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. In the operatic story's traditional language of Italian, local and traveling musicians...
St. Joseph's Day Weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana
For over 50 years the proud members of the Italian American St. Joseph Society have been marching through the streets of New Orleans in celebration of St. Joseph’s Day… and this incredible event might just be the BEST Italian American weekend in the nation (think Mardi Gras… but for Italian Americans). So grab your fanciest red clothes, because the...
Tosca Italian Gourmet Plans Woodforest Restaurant
Woodforest’s Pine Market will soon welcome another tenant when Tosca Italian Gourmet opens this fall. The first Tosca Italian Gourmet opened in The Woodlands in January 2022. A second location in Cypress is slated to open in the spring. Pine Market will be the restaurant’s third location.“We have many customers who live outside The Woodlands and wh...
Celebrate the feast day of St. Joseph at churches or at home with your own altar
Soon enough, if not already, fig cookies, lemons and fava beans will adorn pied St. Joseph Altars at local Catholic churches to celebrate the feast day of the saint. The tradition dates back to the Middle Ages, when the people of Sicily commemorated the end of a drought-caused famine. The islanders attributed the abundant rain and crops to prayers...
IAP 270: celebrating St. Joseph altars: the history, recipes, and symbols of a New Orleans tradition, with special guest Sandra Scalise Juneau
Buona festa di San Giuseppe, everyone! This week’s episode takes us to New Orleans, where our guest, Sandra Scalise Juneau, introduces us to Louisiana’s very special commemoration of one of Italian America’s most beloved holidays… St. Joseph’s Day! Sandra is the author of “Celebrating with St. Joseph Altars: The History, Recipes, and Symbols of a N...
With Columbus gone, statue of saint to take its place in Piazza Italia Park
Three years after a statue of explorer Christoper Columbus was vandalized and ordered removed from a downtown park, a new statue will go up in its place. The new statue of a Catholic saint, which was sought by a retired construction company executive, will be erected on the pedestal where the Columbus statue stood in what used to be known as Columb...