Luisa Gauci is done being the token baseball player. At Driveline and Green River College, her game is set up to thrive
Luisa Gauci has a philosophy that guides her life: “Baseball before anything.” Her overwhelming love for the game, and her almost fanatical dedication to pursuing it on the field, has led her around the world, and now brings her far, far away from her native Australia. It led her to a stint playing summer ball in North Carolina when she was still i...
The Right Place at the Right Time: Portland Got a Gucci Store, Baby!!!
Last Friday, my 20-year-old heater stopped working, under duress from a historic snowstorm that ripped through Portland. On Monday morning, I woke up shivering, confused as to why my electric space heater had shut off overnight—and then I realized my power was out. The power returned Tuesday evening, and I sent a triumphant text to my coworkers. “I...
Italian American Club remains a Vegas entertainment institution
Originally formed 60 years ago, the Italian American Club of Las Vegas had evolved quite a bit through the decades. It was once a private social club for men only, eventually taking the big step of purchasing its current property on Sahara Avenue near Eastern Avenue and building a new headquarters, then expanding into a restaurant and lounge that w...
Puglia Museums Virtual Tour
March 2, 2021. 8:00 pm Pacific. Organized by Italian Portland. Please click here to register. A link will be sent the day before the event. REGISTRATION here. Travel to Italy not on your calendar yet? How would you like to tiptoe around the Civic and Archeological Museum of Manduria, in the South of Puglia? It's almost like being there! Join us as...
Tutta Bella Pizzeria partners with QFC to feed the human spirit
A year into the pandemic, perhaps no business sector has been more gravely affected than the hospitality industry – from restaurants and bars to hotels and inns. Without commitment, determination and a huge dose of creativity, it’s been nearly impossible for these businesses to stay viable and vibrant. Joe Fugere, founder of Seattle’s Tutta Bella...
Mō‘ili‘ili’s New Pizza and Hoagie Shop Opens on Beretania
This is dangerous. My walking route runs along Beretania directly past ‘Ili‘ili Cash and Carry, making it way too easy to drop in regularly. That’s just what Aker Briceno and Keola Rapozo envisioned when they scoped out the former Watanabe Bakery space next to Mini Garden last year. They signed a lease and today the shop opens at 11 a.m. with 18-in...
Tiny glass beads from Italy are uncovered in Alaska that pre-date Christopher Columbus' 1492 discovery of Americas by DECADES - re-writing history of European and US trading
Tiny glass beads from Venice made their way to Alaska decades before Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World. The beads, the color and size of blueberries, were uncovered in a house pit in Punyik Point, a seasonal Inuit camp near the Continental Divide in Alaska's Brooks Range. Archaeologists determined the objects were created between 1440...
The monachine bean is truly a Pellegrini family heirloom
ANGELO PELLEGRINI, fond of wearing basil as a boutonniere, was fonder still of the Italian bean he called “monachine.” It grew like Jack’s beanstalk astride Northwest cedar poles and, like Pellegrini, aged well in its adopted country. He always ate them slowly, mashing each brown-and-white orb with the tines of his fork, swiped through a smear of o...
Not goodbye, but Arrivederci: How a dying wish will keep this Arizona restaurant alive
Franco Cacace used to come into his Italian restaurant and change the tables around if the mood struck him. Some days he was more humble than others, family described. He didn't like to be contradicted, cared about whether his hat matched his shirt, and wouldn't let work get in the way of his tennis and poker games. On the morning of his cremation,...
Italian-American society offering scholarships
The Italian-American Cultural & Heritage Society of Washington County is currently accepting applications for $3,000 scholarships from high school students in Washington County who will be graduating in 2021. To qualify, students must demonstrate high academic achievement with at least a 3.5 QPA in a rigorous academic or career and technical cur...
This Italian kitchen and import store is a true Tucson destination
Roma Imports stands alone, and not just figuratively. It has been standing alone since 1984 in midtown Tucson in a corner of Barrio San Antonio amid other tucked away and dusty commercial and corporate enterprises. It is not too difficult to find, although one would never just be driving by it. This is a true destination. The current owner, Lilian...
Tomaso Maggiore, Phoenix restaurant icon, has died
Arizona restaurant legend Tomaso Maggiore, a fixture on the Valley culinary scene for more than four decades, died after battling cancer, the family announced Saturday. He was 73. Maggiore, who was born and raised in the Sicily region of Italy, opened Tomaso’s Italian Restaurant on Camelback Road in 1977. He would go on to launch more than 50 resta...