Josie & Tony's will bring a new style of dining to South Norwalk in the 20 North Main St. space that used to house Pasta Nostra. Owner Josh Mesnik said that he wanted to create a private membership dining club to provide more tailored customer service and a high-end experience. But non-members will also be able to dine there. "It's exciting, it's d...
READ MORERocco’s Village Bakery has found a second lease on life on South Meriden’s Main Street. The bakery, which occupied a location in New Haven for 40 years, closed in June after the owners Antonio and Anna DiBenedetto decided to retire, unable to keep up with the work demands at their age. Their son Ferdinando DiBenedetto, the lead baker in the establ...
READ MORECarbone’s Ristorante, once a Hartford icon, is returning to the city. The restaurant spent eight decades in Hartford until it closed because of the pandemic. Now, the owner is looking to reopen in the old movie theater at Columbus Boulevard and Front Street. The Italian restaurant used to be on Franklin Avenue. That old location still sits there, w...
READ MOREGuilford’s Nick Fradiani recently announced his promotion from alternate to lead in Broadway’s “A Beautiful Noise.” Last year the “American Idol” winner made his Broadway debut playing an alternate for the younger version of Neil Diamond in the musical based on Diamond’s life and career. As an alternate for the character of "Neil - Then," he perfor...
READ MOREAs artificial intelligence and other digital advancements continue to transform Yale’s classrooms, university thinkers are beginning to explore how these technologies will shape society at large. Yale’s new Digital Ethics Center, founded this year by Italian philosopher Luciano Floridi, seeks to research the societal impact of modern digital innova...
READ MOREA father-daughter duo have recently opened what they say is a first-of-its kind gourmet grab-and-go restaurant. The restaurant, called 123 Pronto Gourmet Prepared Meals To Go & Catering, serves packaged, freshly made Italian cuisine that customers can pick up on their way home and pop in the oven, according to co-owner Claudia Tecla. “Everything i...
READ MOREFavio's Trattoria, Center Street's latest culinary venture which opened on Sunday, has brought another taste of Italy to the neighborhood, offering a variety of traditional Italian cuisine for customers. The eatery at 80 Center St. is Favio Pillacela’s fourth restaurant. He runs the business with his brother and cousin. The three also run Serafino...
READ MOREThe Wooster Square neighborhood, as it came to be identified as an enclave for Italian immigrants, found those of other ethnic origins leaving, and the original Yankee industrialists abandoned their stately homes in favor of other neighborhoods that were more protected against foreign intrusion. The diaspora-like influx of the primarily southern I...
READ MOREOctober is Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month. In Connecticut, more than 584,000 Italian-Americans call the state home, according to World Population Review 2023. They make up 16-percent of the population, making Connecticut the state with the highest percentage of Italian-Americans in the country. Over the decades, Italian immigrants and...
READ MORETurn the clock back 50 years and you would find Italian bakeries aplenty in Hartford. “There were probably eight or nine on the avenue,” said Jenny Beaurivage, co-owner of Giuseppina’s Italian bakery in South Windsor. “I always had a dream of one day opening up my own.” It was a dream that, for some time, she had to shelve. “Life happened, I had ki...
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