La vita italiana

I recently caught up with award-winning Tuscan winemaker Ginevra Venerosi at a local New York trattoria to taste and talk about the wines of her estate Tenuta di Ghizzano. There is something immediately, attractively transparent about Countess Ginevra Venerosi. I …

“There is no wealth but life. That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest number of human beings; that man is richest, who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has also the widest helpful …

There are still places in Italy where time stands still.  One of them is the Abbey of San Fruttuoso di Camogli, on the Ligurian coast. The Abbey sits on a breathtakingly beautiful bay between the towns of Camogli and Portofino, …

The list of honorees reads like a who’s who among Seattle’s culinary elite: Armandino Batali of Salumi; food marketer Jon Rowley; Frank Isernio, founder of Isernio’s Sausage; restaurateur Tom Douglas and his wife Jackie Cross; and most recently, Charles and …

More than 200 years after it was invented, the elegant Bodoni typeface is still among the most admired and largely used around the world. Indeed, it is easy to come across the Bodoni font on a daily basis; it is …

Carnevale in Italy is a farewell to winter and a delirious celebration of Spring and all things delicious and forbidden. Every city or town has its own emblematic festival foods that are imbued with symbolic meaning. Naples is devoted to …

A Milan-New York ‘chat’ was enough to rediscover the marvel of being Italian.  On the other end of the telephone was Alexo Wandael, Trentino Alto Adige born but New Yorker by adoption, a former architect, now a professional photographer who …

In the last issue of L’Italo-Americano, we explored the legacy of 20th century North Beach photographer, J.B. Monaco, a legacy that has endured decades of change to the fabric of San Francisco’s Italian community.  Recently, L’Italo-Americano spoke with Rick Monaco, …

Peter Mondavi Sr., Napa Valley visionary responsible for the success of his family’s winery for more than 50 years died on February 20th at his home in St. Helena, California.  He was 101. Mondavi was born in Virginia, Minnesota, on …

“Trust your crazy ideas” is Roberto Bonzio’s motto. Founder of Italiani di Frontiera, or Italians of Border, the Italian journalist once decided to make the bold move to move to Palo Alto with his family in 2008 to pursue a …