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Sixty-six years ago, Landa Masdea Brunetto's father and grandfather hurriedly worked through the night in the family's machine shop to fabricate specialty bolts and washers unexpectedly needed by the next day to erect the newly arrived statue of Christopher Columbus outside Columbus City Hall. "My dad and grandfather literally stayed up all night,"...

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Arguably the most popular people inside the 2021 Columbus Italian Festival on a sun-soaked Saturday afternoon were the two nice ladies sitting just inside the entrance. And it wasn’t only because Mary Bova and Patty Verrilli were the ones selling tickets to get alcohol. With Frank Sinatra tunes playing in the background, the women greeted old frien...

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The Columbus Italian Festival at St. John the Baptist Italian Catholic Church is back this year, with a few tweaks but most of the familiar favorites. Among the changes festival-goers can expect: Rather than the usual marching band parade, the festival has switched to a drumline competition this year.  “With COVID, and so many students close togeth...

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After last year's event was canceled due to COVID-19, the Columbus Italian Festival will be returning in October 2021. The event will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8 and will conclude at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 10. The Columbus Italian Festival will feature a bocce ball competition, an Italian cooking demonstration, and a marching band competition...

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Salvatore Carfagna has been slicing, unboxing and stacking since he was a teenager. “Knowing what the customer wants and how thin it is and how to slice the meat is ultimately the trick,” said Carfagna. And now as the director of marketing and advertising, he represents the fourth generation of the Carfagna family, a rich tradition that began with...

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While the pandemic has found some businesses embracing the pop-up, for Pelino’s Pasta it has meant making things permanent. Husband and wife team Vinny and Christina Pelino will take their traveling, pop-up concept Pelino’s Pasta and make things stationary with their first brick-and-mortar restaurant at 245 King Ave. It will occupy the former home...

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The statue of Christopher Columbus on the Statehouse lawn won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Despite protests last year that the monument to the Italian explorer should be taken down like the one that once stood in front of City Hall in his namesake city, members of the board overseeing the Statehouse grounds Thursday approved a five-year proces...

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Piada Italian Streetfood, a Columbus-based company, has partnered with the LeBron James Family Foundation to launch Piada Gives, an opt-in donation program. Guests who opt-in to the program via the new Piada app will automatically donate 1% of every purchase to a charity or non-profit making an impact. “Service is at the heart of what we do at Piad...

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Ron Pizzuti has strong opinions on public art—and the city hasn’t always agreed with them. Nearly a decade ago, the Columbus developer and renowned art collector launched a campaign to bring a new artistic landmark to the Downtown riverfront: a six-story, hourglass-shaped steel sculpture called Columbiad.  Pizzuti viewed the proposal as a chance to...

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Sbarro announced the opening of its second restaurant in the Columbus market with EG America. The restaurant is located inside the Turkey Hill on Cleveland Avenue and is part of seven planned openings in the Columbus market in 2021. Sbarro and EG Group, the parent company of EG America, have also recently opened two stores in the United Kingdom and...

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