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The Casa Italia Library/ Italian Cultural Center (Chicago) announces the release of Italian Women in Chicago, Volume II, Siamo arrivate (We have arrived). This anthology is a collection of stories, spotlights, poetry, and much more. You can order Italian Women in Chicago vol ii from Casa Italia here. Focusing on “Saving Our Stories,” “Pop Culture,”...

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The wall of a North Harlem Avenue building in Dunning inspired Ron Onesti as he searched for a new home for the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame — and for a large canvas to promote American athletes of Italian descent. “One of the reasons I bought that building was because of that wall,” says Onesti, president of the Hall of Fame. “Tha...

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In order to meet Cupid and Psyche, as is only right since they are two mythological figures, one has to penetrate into the ancient heart of the capital, in Trastevere. Beyond a small secret garden, crowned in the center by a citrus tree, is a room with a very high ceiling where the mortal Psyche, who in beauty equaled Venus, forever holds in her ma...

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You probably remember the old-time cartoon characters – Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, and others – who picked up the scent of delicious food and then magically floated through the air, following their noses to the good smells. I had a similar sensation over 40 years ago, walking into Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Market in Elmwood Park (2400 N. Harlem Ave.) fo...

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As I grew up in Highwood, visiting my friends was like being in my own home: the same foods were served, I sat on the same style furniture, and I saw pictures of relatives on their walls posted in a fashion similar to mine at home. The promotional calendars of the local Italian insurance firm hung right next to the pictures of the pope in all our k...

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Nando Milano Trattoria in Champaign, Illinois, was the only Italian restaurant named among the “Best in Central Illinois” by Eater Chicago. “Guests can expect to pay $100 per person for dinner before drinks and tip, and yes, lest you think your eyes deceive you, that is a $600 bottle of wine on the list,” Eater writes. However, the high prices are...

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Chicago’s oldest Italian restaurant is opening a basement eatery with an elevated menu and relaxed vibe that owners hope will attract a younger crowd. Sotto opens Thursday in the basement of the sprawling Italian Village Restaurant, 71 W. Monroe St., following an extensive makeover. It replaces La Cantina Enoteca, one of the restaurant’s three dini...

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After nearly two decades at Casa Italia, the Italian American Veterans Museum will be bidding a fond farewell to our longtime home and marching confidently toward a promising future. We’re going to need your support like never before: please donate here. We’re calling on supporters past and future to give as generously as you can to help us defray...

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The “Italians in Chicago” traveling exhibit may be appearing at a public library near you in the not-too-distant future, thanks to the efforts of the volunteers at the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia. The idea for an exhibit documenting the Italian-American immigrant experience in Chicago was hatched in 1978 by Dominic Candeloro, who taught...

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Most of us have been in the proverbial right place at the right time at least once in our lives. Mario Bartoli, Italy’s new consul general in Chicago, has made a career of it. During nearly a quarter-century in the Italian diplomatic corps, Bartoli has played a role in easing tensions between North and South Korea, worked with local authorities to...

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