7 Italian Neighborhoods Around America
The term “Little Italy” can evoke images of busy streets lined with gimmicky, tourist-filled restaurants, complete with menu-pushing waiters outside the front door and Italian flags waving wherever possible. Throw in a paper placemat that doubles as a map of the boot-shaped country (featuring multiple comical misspellings) and you know the types of...
This new startup is making designer shoes affordable
by Lauren Fisher All shoe-obsessed women know that it's not easy to fund a footwear addiction—designer shoes under $500 are nearly unheard of today—but a new fashion startup is making it its mission to change the game. Launched by Rue La La founder Ben Fischman and shoe merchant Maria Gangemi, M.Gemi is offering hand-crafted Itali...
Mirandolina, Mistress of a Tuscan Inn Comes to the San Francisco Bay Area
by Catherine Accardi Can an 18th century Italian comedic play withstand the tests of time and culture? We who live in the San Francisco Bay Area have the opportunity to make that determination when Mirandolina, Mistress of a Tuscan Inn comes to the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. Mirandolina is probably not the typical type of...
Italian Luxe Meets Soho: Brunello Cucinelli Takes a Shine to Manhattan with New Greene Street Store
by Low Lai Chow Italian luxury prêt-à-porter brand Brunello Cucinelli, known for its fine cashmere knitwear garments in the last three decades of its establishment, has a new 3,980 square feet store on Greene Street in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood. Both the men's and women's Fall/Winter 2015 collections for Cucinelli are set to d...
South Italy Imports brings a taste of Italy to the Lehigh Valley
South Italy Imports has one foot in the Lehigh Valley and the other in Italy. The wine and food importer started in 2001 and now has a presence in Nevada, California, New York and they're applying to be a distributor in Delaware. Regardless, you'll still find the home base in Hanover Township. "To get a wine out of Italy, (vineya...
Italian a day: Rosa Ponselle
The first American singer to perform at New York's famed Metropolitan Opera House without European training was Rosa Ponselle. Born Rosa Ponzillo in Connecticut, "the Cinderella of Opera," made her debut at the Met in 1918 when she was 21 in Verdi's La Forza del Destino, opposite Enrico Caruso after being discovered in vaudeville. She play...
IT and US: The IACE summer program, long standing tradition and doorway to culture
WTI Magazine #60 2015 May, 15Author : IACE Translation by: For the last three consecutive years the Italian American Committee on Education Summer Program has enjoyed a residency in the medieval town of Narni, province of Terni, in southern Umbria. Through close collaboration with the Narni Arts Academy and its Artistic Director, pia...
Catania: coastal Italian in La Jolla
by Michele Parente And you thought San Diego had a lot of beaches: Italy has more than 4,700 miles of gorgeous coastline. So when I heard that the accomplished team behind La Jolla's Whisknladle were opening a restaurant named Catania, promising authentic Italian coastal cuisine, my mind went immediately to pastas sun-kissed with...
Italian delegation touts a taste of Tuscany in Sacramento visit
by Mark Glover Sacramento boasts of its farm-to-fork reputation, but an Italian delegation visiting the city on Monday hopes that residents also will be receptive to a taste of Tuscany. About a dozen members of a trade and business delegation from the city of Lucca in Italy's famed Tuscany region showed off their wares Monday morning at Adamo...
Commedia dell'Arte Summer Workshop
June 21 - 26: Commedia dell'Arte Summer Workshop. Presented by Roving Classical Commedia University Mask Arts Company. Teaching Classical Commedia dell'Arte since 2001 as close to its original form as believed, was performed in the 1500s. Participants discover and develop their personal historical Commedia dell'Arte traditional character...
A Look at the 2015 Sons of San Paolino Children's Giglio Lift in Franklin Square, Long Island
Our friend Bobby Maida was kind enough to share with us his pictures of the 2015 Sons of San Paolino Children's Gilio lift (Friday, June 26th). We love all of our feasts and cultural events, but there is always something extra special when they are focused on our youth. To see the enthusiasm of these kids while they actively participate in...
Italian traditions: The bridge competition in Pisa
WTI Magazine #64 2015 July, 10Author : folclore.it Translation by: The bridge competition is a reminiscent an event organized in two highlights: the historical parade and the battle. It takes place in the summer in Pisa, Tuscany, and it reflects an ancient and bloody game of the time of the maritime Republic of Pisa. Repeatedly suspe...