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After Joe Carlucci closed his namesake restaurant in Downers Grove three years ago, almost immediately he began planning another Carlucci’s that would bring him back to the city. Carlucci has been in the restaurant business for 36 years. “There’s always something in building a restaurant that you don’t realize is going to surprise you,” he says. “M...

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A Christmas Village will once again light up the Casa Italia campus in Stone Park after a one-year hiatus prompted by the pandemic. The complimentary open house is slated for Dec. 5, and more than a dozen organizations have signed up as sponsors. A noon Mass with a Living Nativity will be followed by festivities that include a strolling zampognaro...

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Even 20 years later, Dr. Patrick Angelo struggles to explain the freezing February night when he felt a command to get into his car and drive downtown to go feed and warm the homeless. He didn’t know his way around downtown Chicago. But after making some random turns, he arrived at a homeless encampment on Lower Wacker Drive, where he had never bee...

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The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame will present multisport luminary Jerry Colangelo with the Mario Andretti Lifetime Achievement Award at a gala and induction ceremony at the Westin O’Hare. The event has been moved from Nov. 13 to Dec. 10. “When the hall of fame needed help making the move to Taylor Street, Jerry Colangelo was there....

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The contemporary Italian dance company Artemis Danza will perform “Dante Solo Inferno” at 7 p.m. on Dec. 4 at the Instituto Cervantes theater in Chicago. In this choreographic interpretation of Dante’s classic poem, the audience encounters the lost souls who crossed path with Dante on his otherworldly journey. The soundtrack alternates between orig...

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The Arcolian Dental Arts Society will honor Dr. Jeffrey Wittmus as Arcolian of the Year at its Christmas gala on Dec. 14 at Cafe La Cave in Des Plaines. To make reservations, contact Dr. Chuck Martello at 815-666-4959 or charlesmartell@comcast.net. Wittmus is the grandson of John Joseph Siravo, whose parents immigrated from Italy’s Abruzzi region....

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Italian immigrants to Chicago had an outsized impact on the city’s food scene during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Few items have endured and even grown in importance as giardiniera, the mix of peppers and other vegetables given a quick pickle and then a soak in oil. Chicagoans and food tourists seeking out a Chicago-style hot dog or an I...

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The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii will host its annual Mary and Christmas celebration both in person and online on Dec. 4. Maestro Paul French will once again lead the incomparable William Ferris Chorale in a program of Christmas favorites. Timeless yuletide melodies, Neapolitan songs and favorites by composer Ennio Morricone will help ring in the...

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At any private company, working alongside relatives can come with plenty of internecine challenges. But how about one big extended Italian family that includes siblings, parents and children all part of the operation? At Buona, which encompasses 25 fast-casual Buona Beef restaurants, catering and a grocery-sales division, family somehow works. The...

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Professor Massimo Montanari author of A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce discussed his book with the Italian Cultural Society of Chicago in a virtual event. The book examines the history of pasta and tomato sauce. Professor Montarai explained, “pasta is a very very old object”. In ancient societies, pasta was identified as a variant of...

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