Giovanna Mezzogiorno

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iss. VII Vol XXVII Spring 2011 In This Edition:

Interview with sheriff Joe Arpaio interview with Bobby Rydell music legend • opera, Ballo in Maschera • News

• •

Exclusive Interview With

World Renowned Actress

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Giovanna Mezzogiorno

Photo by © Marco Rossi 2010

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Tuscany, Italy

Cover Story

Giovanna Mezzogiorno

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pg. 2-3

JOSEPH ARPAIO

Pg. 4-5

nadia Giosa

Pg. 18-19

BOBBY RYDELL

Pg. 10-11

35th Anniversary Awards Gala

Pg. 8-9

Amici Journal

Editorial ..............................................................................................................1 Exclusive Interview with Giovanna Mezzogiorno...........................2-3 American Sheriff – Joe Arpaio..................................................................4-5 Italian- American History.............................................................................6 The History of Amedo Modigliani............................................................7 NIAF 35th Anniversary Gala...................................................................8-9 Interview with Bobby Rydell................................................................10-11 Welcoming of Velda Davino......................................................................12 Alderman John Rice......................................................................................13 Casa Belvedere – The Italian Cultural Foundation..........................14 A Rising Star – Natalina Maggio.............................................................15 Opera – Un Ballo in Maschera.................................................................16 Calendar of Entertainment Events.........................................................17 Rockin’ in the Bitchin’ Kitchen...........................................................18-19 Roman and British History..................................................................20-21 Rome on a Somber Evening – Center Spread..............................24-25 Rossella Rago – 24 Hour Restaurant................................................26-27 Interview with Chef David Catapano.............................................28-29 Recipes........................................................................................................30-31 USA News................................................................................................32-33 English to Italian Puzzle............................................................................34 Doctor Isadore Rosenfeld...........................................................................36 Operation Harvest Moon..........................................................................37 Military Families...........................................................................................38 Top Eight Wines ..........................................................................................39 Restaurant Guide..........................................................................................40 Celebrity News...............................................................................................41 The Art of Eye to Eye Conversation.......................................................42 Federica Fanti.................................................................................................43 Advertisers Content......................................................................................48

Editorial

Mark Giangreco

Chef Marco Barrila

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Cover Maria Cucinotta.indd 1

Monthly News

Miniseries “The Pacific”

Opera singer Sandra Radvanovsky

iss. VII Vol XXIV Summer 2010

Exclusive Interview With

Maria Cucinotta Actress - Director -Writer

4/16/2010 12:58:22 PM

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ebruary 6, 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ronald Reagan, America’s 40th president.He is remembered as the Great Communicator - and as the man who helped to end tensions with the former Soviet Union.

Ronald Reagan was a well-known Hollywood actor before he became governor of California. His election as president in 1980 thrust him into the international spotlight.

At the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, scholars and authors have been assessing Mr. Reagan’s impact, and ordinary Americans are recalling his legacy.

The birthplace site of Ronald Reagan is a small residence in a rural midwestern town of approximately 800. Tampico; Illinois, a tiny blip on the map surrounded by silos and cornfields, dust from grain elevators, and tidy little farmhouses that spread out in perpetuity on all sides, is home to a Reagan museum, a Reagan park, and a hair styling business called “Hair Force One.” Born February 6, 1911, Reagan lived in Tampico for approximately three months after his birth. The quaint apartment is reconditioned and decorated to its fundamental 1900’s style.

Many proudly recall holding their breath as the votes to the 1980 presidential election were counted staff President Ronald Reagan birthplace and Museum, in Tampico Illinois; the Ronald Reagan Birthplace Museum is in a storefront, below the actual birth site. Museum pieces include an assortment of movie posters, political buttons, souvenirs, books, and other Reagan-related memorabilia. There are small dishes of free jellybeans scattered around. The free tour of the Reagan birthplace takes visitors to the second floor a late 19th-century commercial building – known as the Graham Building – built in 1896 for G.W. Stauffer by Fred Harvey Seymour. The 40th President of the United States was born in modest quarters above what was then a drinking hole; the Reagans relocated to a different place in Tampico shortly thereafter.

President Ronald Reagan had an important insight into the Soviet Union, says presidential biographer Richard Reeves. “That communism could not sustain itself and that the time had come to move from containment, which was the American policy before he became president, to a more confrontational face toward communism. And it worked, I think, far beyond his wildest dreams,” he said.

But the Reagan administration also faced controversy in the Iran-Contra scandal, a secret arms sale to Iran, which was under an arms embargo. Members of the Reagan administration diverted some of the proceeds to anti-communist guerrillas in Nicaragua.

All presidents have mixed legacies, some good, and some bad, Reagan contributed to the demise of the Soviet Union. He helped bring the economy back. When he became president, we were the world’s largest creditor nation.

When the economy took off in the second quarter of 1983, with a growth rate that averaged 7 percent for the rest of the year, Reagan’s approval ratings soared with it. The “Reagan Recession” lasted 16 months; the Reagan Recovery persisted well into the next presidency. Reagan became popular enough to withstand the Iran-contra scandal, which might have wrecked a lesser president, and he left the White House with the highest job approval rating of any departing president since Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office in 1945.

Scholars say, Mr. Reagan had strong beliefs and was guided by principle, But then also pragmatic, he was willing to compromise, willing to take what he could get and work with the other side,” Rowland states. Mr. Reagan built a conservative coalition, however he may not agree with the modern conservative movement.

Scholars say Mr. Reagan’s greatest strength understood leadership and how to communicate his vision to Americans, and the rest of the World, of which he did so poignantly, and with charismatic value, which has yet to be duplicated!

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Fore!

by Tom of Pasadena, CA

My five-year-old nephew wanted to caddy for my brother’s golf game.

“You have to count my strokes,” my brother told him.

“How much is six plus nine plus eight?”

“Five,” answered the nephew.

“Okay,” my brother said, “let’s go!”

Spring 2011 / 1

Exclusive Interview with

Giovanna Mezzogiorno Actress-Director

By John Rizzo

When we glance at the tabloids that line the supermarket checkout counter, or view the latest gossip item on our favorite news shows, and hear about the latest antics of this or that movie actress, what do we really think about them. That they are mostly empty brained bimbos that can’t seem to stay out of trouble? Sometimes, I guess. But we also realize that there are a number of ladies of the silver screen who are truly outstanding artists—and actually regular folks when it comes right down to it. One of these is the Italian movie star, Giovanna Mezzogiorno. “I like to live simply,” she claims. “When I am not working I just like to be at home, or to visit my mother. I like to be as normal as I can. For example, I often love to cook for people.”

For Giovanna, “home” could mean Rome, Milan or Paris—she maintains residences in all three cities. So which is her favorite?

While she was not as unequivocal on this issue as I had hoped, you get the feeling that she has the greatest heartfelt sentiment for Milan.

“I love Milan very much. This is the town of my mother and my high school.”

Although Giovanna Mezzogiorno is currently recognized as Italy’s top film actress, and both her mother and father were professional actors, her training and early background were in ballet.. But to be successful in this demanding field, you must have a personality that can endure “the strange world of ballet,” as Giovanna puts it. “It’s not real, not for me.” Any type of performer in the professional theater can confirm that the ballet demi-monde is a very

closed society. “The relationships in acting are much more human and personal.” A true Thespian cannot shroud his or her feelings in a vague sub-culture, but must bare them for all to see. This is the kind of woman Giovanna Mezzogiorno is.

Another signature characteristic of the pure actor is to accept whatever challenge comes along, no matter what the role may be. “I have no particular inclination for certain colleagues to work with or roles to play,” Mezzogiorno asserts. “I have no preference. I am very open. I am very satisfied with what I have done so far.” And what has she done so far?

She has appeared in a very wide variety of roles in over 30 stage, movie and television productions. Almost all of these are Italian or European ventures, although she starred recently in the acclaimed American film Love in the Time of Cholera (2007). In this film she showcased her incredible technique by portraying a character that ages more than 50 years in the course of the story. Her favorite film to date is the very highly esteemed Vincere (2009), which, she informs us, has been “distributed in the U.S. It has a very strong story, in which I play a very colorful character. It was a real challenge for me.”

Of the numerous awards Giovanna Mezzogiorno has won, there is one that caught my eye, with which, being an American, I was totally unfamiliar. This is the David di Donatello Award. I know the Donatello sculpture, an extremely famous and beautiful bronze piece that depicts David in the nude, prominently located in the Bargello in Florence. But I had never heard of the award, and assumed it was some relatively quaint and unimportant distinction. But according to Giovanna, “It is the most important award in Italian cinema.” Nominated for this award six times (five for Best Actress, once for Best Supporting Actress) she won this prestigious honor in 2003 for Best Actress (Migliore Attrice Protagonista) in La finestra di fronte (Facing Windows).

Other important awards she has won are: 1998, Venice Film Festival, (Best Actress), and 1999, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Best Actress), for Del perduto amore; 2001, Flaiano Film Festival (Best Actress), for L’ultimo Bacio; 2003, European Film Awards, Flaiano Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and 2004, Bangkok Film Festival (Best Actress) for La finestra di fronte; 2003, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Best Actress), for Il più crudele dei giorni; 2005,Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Best Supporting Actress), for L’amore ritorna; 2005, Venice Film Festival (Best Actress), for La bestia nel cuore; and 2009, Chicago International Film Festival, Golden Globes, Italy and Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Best Actress), for Vincere.

Personally and professionally, Giovanna takes the greatest sat

isfaction in winning the coveted Coppa di Volpi at the Venice Film Festival in 2005. This award had been previously won by legendary movie greats Bette Davis, Shirley Maclaine, Catherine Deneuve and Sophia Loren.

What made winning this prize especially fulfilling was that she was competing that year with European super celebrity, French actress Isabelle Huppert.

Although many film actors avoid live stage acting, perhaps out of fear would Giovanna take on live theater again? “Absolutely,” she says. “I’m very open to doing it again. Each kind of acting presents its own set of problems,” and, genuine dramatic artist that she is, she’s ready to meet this challenge as she has done before.

Giovanna has also performed numerous times on television. Her most memorable TV role was a small one, but it’s a part “I will remember all my life,” she says, because of her work with John Malkovich. The production was a made-for-TV version of Les Miserables, shot in France and the Czech Republic. “I only had one scene but [Malkovich] was very nice to me. One night we all went out together for dinner. Because he was so supportive I was not scared.”

The actress handles her fame naturally, perhaps because she (unlike many of the tabloid bimbos we mentioned earlier), actually keeps a very low profile when she’s not making films. “Being famous as an actress is not a problem for me,” Giovanna reveals. “I live my life as privately as possible. Sometimes people come up to me in the street, but I have not encountered any really obsessive behavior.”

You’d think that a woman as beautiful and well put together as Giovanna Mezzogiorno would have a personal trainer and be on a very strict diet regimen. Wrong! “I’m a terribly lazy person,” she admits. “Maybe, in the future, when I get older, I’ll need this.

Who knows?” There. We finally found something to dislike about her. It sounds like she’s one of those people who can eat and drink whatever they want and it won’t affect them negatively! (Just kidding!)

Besides having worked with John Malkovich, Giovanna has another Chicago connection. When she got married last year Chicago was one of the two American cities in which she spent some time on her honeymoon. Although she has no children yet, “Of course I hope to have children soon,” she declares.

Giovanna Mezzogiorno may have a private domestic life, but she is not adverse to publicizing the fact that she has two tattoos, one on each of her inner ankles. One is a picture of the letter “V,” which is the first initial of her late Campagnese father, Vittorio, who not surprisingly, was a famous actor in his own right and a very dynamic man. The other tattoo pictures the Scorpio Zodiac symbol, Giovanna’s sign. When asked about them she said, rather enigmatically, “In different phases of my life I wanted these tattoos on my body because they mean a lot to me. I express my feelings from the tattoos.” It is understandable, perhaps, that she would want some kind of reference to a strong father. But who knows how important her personal astrological sign is to her? She certainly doesn’t discuss it. Yet she reveals the existence of the body art on her web site. In the end, it is fitting for one who makes her living so well at creating illusions to present this mystery to her public.

There is no mystery, however, about what she is. Giovanna Mezzogiorno is one phenominal, talented actress!

Scenes from the movie Love in the Time of Cholera Spring 2011 / 3

Joe Arpaio: America’s Sheriff

By John Rizzo

How would it be if you had do a lot of traveling to make a living, and everywhere you went, there would be a hostile crowd shouting at you, hurling epithets and waving signs emblazoned with profane or insulting statements? Welcome to the world of Joe Arpaio, Sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County. Most of us, of course would not enjoy facing nasty demonstrations Sheriff Joe Arpaio like this on a regular basis, Maricopa County but Arpaio says, “I like it.

Arizona They shout things at me and I shout right back!”

And what has Arpaio done to incur the wrath of so many? The list of provocations is long, but most of the turmoil has erupted from the manner in which he runs his office—and enforces the law.

Anyone who even casually follows current events knows that there is a vociferous minority in this country (and a powerful element in the current Federal Government, for that matter) that seems to care more about the rights of those who have broken the law than the rights of the victims of criminals. In championing the legally proscribed penalties for breaking the law, Arpaio realizes that, “I’m the big target.” Indeed, as the elected official responsible for law enforcement, running the jail, serving warrants, courtroom security and prisoner transport in Maricopa County, Arpaio has come under fire, and is often sued, by a host of do-gooder organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, the New York Times, and even the Jewish Anti-Defamation League. (Puzzled

by what he did to offend Jewish people, I asked him about it and he said that it was “just the leaders” of the organization piling on for the sake of “politics” and that he “had a solid relationship with most Jewish businessmen.”)

So what has the Sheriff actually done to raise the ire of so many groups? First of all, he erected a “Tent City” for criminals sentenced to serve time (saving Arizona taxpayers millions of dollars). “I started out by getting 70 Korean War-era tents from New Mexico,” says Joe. Nowadays the Tent City, just outside of Phoenix, is huge, and, because there are no building or walls to contend with, “We always have vacancies.” Has this tent thing had any kind of positive effect on the inmates? As the Sheriff puts it, there are many convicts, when leaving, “that shake my hand and thank me” for the experience because “they hate it so much that they never want to come back there again.” It does get quite hot in Arizona, and inside the tents the temperature can hit 140º F. But when some complained about this, Arpaio compared being in prison to what our troops had to face daily in Iraq: “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and the soldiers are living in tents, have to wear full body armor, and they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your mouths.” He has also banned inmate possession of Playboy Magazine and other soft-porn publications.

If it is true that “music soothes the savage breast,” then Joe Arpaio is a firm believer in the adage. Once again, despite withering criticism, the Sheriff pipes into the county jail selections from classical music, opera and Frank Sinatra. Does he ever choose what music is played? “Of course,” he says.

“When I was a kid, I went from Italian family to family and the opera was always on [the radio]...Around Christmas we play appropriate seasonal music.” If any inmates really want to escape the rigors of Tent City, they can volunteer for a chain gang, an old concept resurrected for the contemporary criminal—even women. “We have the only all-women chain gangs in the world,” brags Arpaio. Juveniles who volunteer for chain gang duty can earn credit towards a high school diploma.

Then there is that venerable American law enforcement tool known as the “Posse.” In Maricopa County the civilian posse is already a 50-year old tradition. Naturally, Joe Arpaio has put his own stamp on this very effective volunteer organization. “We’re up to 3,000 volunteers, divided into 57 units,” claims the Sheriff. The various units provide backup for regular officers, administrative office support, search and rescue, locating deadbeat parents with outstanding arrest warrants for failure to pay child support and assisting immigration sweeps, among other duties.

This quasi-legal group also saves Arizona’s taxpayers millions.

One of the most “demeaning” tactics that Arpaio directs towards the inmates is forcing them to wear pink underwear. Some years ago the Sheriff noted that the white underwear that prisoners then wore, “was being smuggled out and sold on the black market. By changing the color to pink we could tell if it was ours. They also hate that color.” Arpaio has been accused of crassly promoting himself, and one of the ways he does it is by expanding the “pink” theme to a line of products for sale, including pink handcuffs!

It’s hard to believe that this is Joe Arpaio’s second career in law enforcement. His parents came from Avellino (yet another celebrity from that tiny town. Must be something about the water there!) In Italy his father was in the army, but in the states he ran a grocery store. When his mother and father first arrived, “Customs got our name messed up. It was originally Arpaia and they changed it to Arpaio.” As a boy, some of his relatives, “told me that I would grow up to be in the FBI.,” but what youngster doesn’t hear that? “When the Korean War broke out I enlisted, but I was assigned to France,” in the military police.

After his discharge he became a police officer in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan force. Then “I moved to Las Vegas and became a policeman there. Once I stopped Elvis Presley with some blonde, but I finally let him go.”

In Vegas he was appointed a special officer for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which became the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

“Then I came to Chicago where I was sworn in as a Federal agent. Then my girl came there from Virginia and we were married, and my son Rocco was born in Cuneo Hospital. From there I went overseas and did undercover work in places like Turkey and the Middle East. I came back to Texas, where I was the only Federal Drug Enforcement officer, and finally to Arizona, where I retired in 1982.” After a career like that, for most of us, that would be a good place to stop, and rest on our laurels. But not Joe Arpaio! “Ten years later, in 1992, I ran for Sheriff of Maricopa County and won.”

Today, of course, one of the hottest and most contentious issues in the country is illegal immigration, and Sheriff Arpaio once more finds himself in the thick of things. Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, “I’m against amnesty,” declares Joe. “It’s a matter of fairness.” This is a concept that is not discussed in detail, as it should be. Instead, we hear everything about the constitutional problems with “racial profiling.” We all know that there is a steady stream of illegals pouring across our southern border. What will happen it this tide is not stemmed? “It’s already happening,” claims the Sheriff. “Crime by illegal aliens is way up. It’s a big problem.”

It has always been one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s priorities to at least lessen the flow of illegal immigrants, and what has he gotten from the Federal government for his efforts? A steady spate of lawsuits, citing one flimsy constitutional violation or another. Most recently (as of September 2, 2010), the Obama administration has sued the Sheriff to compel him to cooperate with an investigation from 2009, regarding the possible violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And what exactly does this mean? The government wants Arpaio to provide various relevant records and documents. “It’s all politics,” explains Arpaio. “They have every record in their possession already.” This government action was spurred by the notable Arizona immigration bill (also extremely popular with the American public), S. B. 1070. It will be interesting to see whether a state legally has the right to protect its citizens by enforcing a federal law that the federal government fails to enforce!

Joe Arpaio’s voice is beautiful to listen to—it is not the voice of a man his age. He must realize this because he says, “Sometimes I think that I should’ve taken singing lessons when I was younger.” He is also well in tune with his heritage.

“I’m very proud to be an Italian American.

People should never forget their ethnic roots.”

So says America’s Sheriff.

Spring 2011 / 5

N A C I R E M -A N A I L A IT

H I S T O RY 1993

Mario Andretti, He was the only racer to be named Driver of the Year in three different decades -1967, 1978 and 1984, the only one to win the Daytona 500, Indy 500 and Formula One title and the only four time Indy national championship. In 1993 Mario set a world closed-course speed record of 234.275 mph. In 1993 when he won the Indy Car race in Phoenix, it marked his 100th career victory.

1994

Joe Paterno, Legendary Penn State Football Coach, “Joe Pa” is the most successful college football coach in history having won more games than any other coach in that category. In 1994, he completed his fifth undefeated season winning the Big Ten Championship and the Rose Bowl along the way. In 2001 he broke the record of 323 victories as head coach previously held by legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant of the University of Alabama and continues to add to the total.

1996

Joe Torre , He managed the St. Louis Cardinals from 1990-1995 and followed that with a stint as in broadcasting. He returned to managing in 1996 -this time for the New York Yankees where he would re-write the record books by leading the team to four World Series titles between 1996-2000, winning the event three consecutive times.

1998 Italian Language, Reliable data, including a survey conducted by the Modern Language Association (MLA) in 1998, attests to a recent significant increase in the enrollment in Italian Language courses in American colleges and universities. Among the more significant statistics is the growth of students enrolled in Italian in higher educational institutions: 45,013 in 1996 compared to 19,923 in 1965; 126 institutions offering Bachelor of Arts degrees in Italian in 1996 compared to 95 in 1975; and 926 full or part-time faculty of Italian Language in 1996 compared to 521 in 1975.

6/Spring 2011

1999

The United States Congress was prompted to address the problematic treatment of Italian Americans during the Second World War by a coalition spearheaded by historian Lawrence DiStasi of the American Italian Historical Association’s Western Chapter; it included Italian American organizations, NIAF, and notables such as Dominic DiMaggio. This culminated in House Resolution 2442, which acknowledged that the United States had violated the civil rights of Italian Americans during the Second World War.

2000

Self-identification as Italian Americans is important for several reasons. In part this may be a reflection of the relatively recent and continuing ties of first and second generations with the land of their ancestors, while such a connection on the part of older European stocks have been attenuated. There is also the observation that Italian Americans enjoy a more visible place in business, politics, sports, entertainment, and the arts in American society, without having to hide their ethnic background.

2002

Franco Scalamandre, a co-founder of Scalamandre Inc., one of the nation’s most prestigious manufacturers and distributors of decorative textiles, trimmings, carpeting and wall coverings, was born in Naples, Italy in 1898. His factory in Astoria, Queens became the foremost producer of silk and silk- derivative cloth that soon became renown for producing exquisites drapes and fine silk that graced finer homes, museums and the White House.

Louis Nichole, Luigi Nichola Giuseppe DiMuzio of Prospect, that from 1999 to 2006, designed and then, with the help of his 235 Italian relatives, transformed his country club into “Nichole Court and Gardens,” a property that features romantic Italianate gardens. Due to his varied interests and talents, he is regarded as a Renaissance man who created an international brand and won a devoted following without extensive marketing and public relations.

The History of Artist Amedeo Modigliani

A

medeo Modigliani was born in Leghorn (Livorno) on 12 July 1884, the fourth child of Flaminio Modigliani and Eugénie Garsin.Amedeo’s precocious propensity to painting revealed itself when he started to frequent the studio of the artist Guglielmo Micheli from Leghorn starting from the summer of 1898.

In 1901, he left on a trip with his mother after recovering from a pulmonary ailment.

According his mother, Modigliani had been a spoiled child and in Venice he got his first taste of the compensating differences in life style, which he would bring to perfection in Paris. Modigliani was the archetypical Latin Lover: charming, handsome and irresistible to women. This side of his personality would form a remarkable combination with his profound intellectuality, which showed in his choice of women. While Modigliani had many short-lived affairs, his longer-term relationships would be with women that were involved in art. Several of of his more serious affairs were with writers, such as British journalist Beatrice Hastings (1879 - 1943, their relationship lasted from 1914 to 1916).

Probably his true love was Jeanne Hebuterne. They met in 1916 when Hebuterne was a 19 years old art student. Their friends described her as depressed and the few photos that are left of her, suggest a depth and intensity that probably would have attracted Modigliani. All the more remarkable it is that Modigliani consistently portrayed her as cheery and nonchalant, with brighter, more exuberant colors than he would normally use. Usually Modigliani was a ruthless and truthful portraitist, but Jeanne Hébuterne would be idealized, making her appear shallower than she probably was.

Artistically, 1916 is a very productive year for Modigliani. He has his first one-man exhibition at the gallery of Berthe Weill, which is ended by the police because of two of Modigliani’s nude paintings in the gallery’s showroom.

In 1918 Paris is bombarded by the German air force. Modigliani’s art dealer Zborowski decides conditions in Paris are becoming too difficult and so he moves to the South of France, taking with him most of his artists, which includes Modigliani, who goes to live between Nice and Cagnes. He discovered Naples, Amalfi, Capri, Rome and Florence. The following year, he enrolled at the “Scuola Libera di Nudo dell’Accademia di Belle Arti” in Florence where he deepened his knowledge of Italian Impressionist painting (also called “Macchiaiola”), the Tuscan avantgarde artists and their leader Professor Giovanni Fattori.In 1903, he attended the “Scuola Libera del Nudo” in Venice. He met the artist Ortiz de Zàrate with whom he discovered the Biennial Exhibition of Modern Art in Venice and the European artistic trends, with a particular attention to the works of Cézanne and Van Gogh.

During this period, he left for England for the first time.He arrived in Paris in early February in 1906. After a short stay at the hotel in Madeleine, he rented a studio in Montmartre.

He enrolled in the drawing courses at the “Accademia Colarossi.” In 1907, he met Dr. Alexandre and took up residence in the sprawling tenement block set up by Alexandre in rue Delta 7 in Montmartre to work with other painters. Exhibited at

the “Salone d’Autunno*” in Paris. In 1908, he exhibited numerous works at the “Salon des Indépendents” in Paris in the Fauve painters’ gallery. He met Brancusi at the “Cité Faulguiére” in Montparnasse, sculpted with him in his Paris studio and later invited him to Leghorn in the summer of 1909. In 1910, he received favorable reviews during the “Salon des Indépendent.” During that year, he dedicated himself solely to sculpture, influenced by the archaic forms of idols and primitive masks.

In 1911, he exhibited a combined work of sculptures and drawings at the studio of the artist Souza Cardoso in Montparnasse.

He visited Normandy with his aunt Laure.

In early 1912, he painted numerous portraits on canvas including that of Dr. Alexandre, but went back to Leghorn in summer to regain his strength and to work on his stone sculptures. In September, he went back to Paris and met Jaques Lipchitz, Augustus John and Jacob Epstein. Showed his “Teste: insieme decorativo” at the “Salon d’automne.”

In 1913, the art dealer Chéron offered him his first paid contract for his paintings. He met the painter Soutine and worked with him at the studio in Boulevard Raspail 216. After the declaration of war in 1914, Modigliani stopped seeing his friend Paul Alexandre and broke all contact with many other artists: an important period for his painting which became his sole form of expression. He abandoned sculpture, met the English poetess Béatrice Hastings, set up a studio in Montmartre and shared his enthusiasm with Diego Rivera and Kisling.

Max Jacob introduced him to Paul Guillaume, who became his dealer until 1916. During that year, he exhibited 15 paintings and 3 sculptures at the studio of Emile Lejeune in Paris. His meeting with Léopold Zborowsky, an exiled Polish poet, was determinant for his carrier as an artist.

In March, 1917, Amedeo met Jeanne Hébuterne, a young student at the “Academie Colarossi,” with whom he moved in to the studio rented for them by Zborowsky in rue de la Grande-Chaumiére in Montparnasse The first personal exhibition of the Italian artist was held at the “Galleria Berthe Weill” but was closed down on opening day for outrage against decency...

Due to Modigliani’s worsening state of health, he and Jeanne Hébuterne were obliged to stay in ____ for rest. They also stayed in Cagnes with Foujita and his wife Fernande, Soutine, Survage, Cendrars and Osterlind. He painted four landscapes of Cagnes, the only ones of his whole career. The Paul Guillaume Gallery* (Galleria Paul Guillaume) in Paris held a collective exhibition of the works of young painters: Matisse, Picasso, and Modigliani.

On 29 November, Jeanne gave birth to Giovanna Modigliani. On 31 May 1919, Modigliani went back to Paris. Jeanne was expecting another baby.

Zborowsky organized, with the Sitwels brothers, a collective exhibition in London entitled “Modern French Art” which received praises from the press.

On 22 January 1920, an unconscious Amedeo was brought to the “Ospedale della Charité”* where he died of tubercular meningitis without having regained consciousness.

Jeane Hébuterne, eight months pregnant, commited suicide the following day.

Modigliani was laid to rest on 27 January at the Pére Lachaise Cemetery* (Cimitero del Pére Lachaise) in Paris; the body of Jeanne Hébuterne lies next to his.

Spring 2011/7

35thAnniversary GalaAwards

Giuliana DePandi Rancic, Danny DeVito celebrate and promote Italian American Heritage to more than 2,000 guests!

By Andrew Guzaldo

Guests during the black-tie event

(WASHINGTON , D.C. -- October 27, 2010) Giuliana DePandi Rancic, anchor and managing editor of E! News and star of the Style Network show “Giuliana & Bill,” delivered a powerful message for Italian American youth - “Don’t ‘ Jersey Shore ’ us,” she said during the National Italian American Foundation’s (NIAF) 35th Anniversary Awards Gala at the Washington Hilton, October 23, 2010.

As the evening’s emcee, she recounted her days as a NIAF volunteer Giulianastudent at the annual gaDePandi Rancic las. While speaking, she stressed the importance of achieving one’s dreams while staying true to one’s heritage. Deriding “ Jersey Shore ,” she encouraged Italian American youth to celebrate education and culture.

of USA Basketball and NIAF’s own board chairman. Colangelo welcomed the more than 2,000 guests at the Foundation’s blacktie gala and focused on the importance of family, faith and friends – “It’s what we stand for at NIAF.” He was joined by Board Members Robert E. Carlucci, NIAF‘s gala dinner chairman, and NIAF’s President Joseph V. Del Raso , Esq., who called on Peter F. Secchia & Tom Izzo the next generation of Italian American leaders to stand proud.

Golden Globe-and Emmy-winning actor Danny DeVito presented Aurelio De Laurentiis, Italian film producer and president of SSC Napoli Soccer Club, with the NIAF United States-Italy Friendship Award. DeVito is also a recipient of the NIAF’s 1993 Special Achievement Award in Arts and Entertainment. De Laurentiis called DeVito a genuine friend who has always been there for him and asked all to remember, “Love is the engine of the world.”

Tom Izzo, head coach of men’s basketball at

To further support NIAF’s commitMichigan State University, came to the podium to Joe Uva, tment to education and youth programs, Pareceive the NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award tricia de Stacy Harrison, a NIAF vice chair in Sports from Hon. Peter F. Secchia, a former and president and CEO for the Corporation for Public Broadcating (CPB), kicked off the evening with the announcement member of the NIAF board of directors and former U.S. Ambassador to of a $2.6 million be- Italy. Izzo spoke about how his grandfather taught him the importance of quest from the estate a strong work ethic. of the late Victoria “Do for J. Mastrobuono, the largest philanthropic others before you gift in the Founda- do for yourself tion’s history. Then – words my mother Harrison invited to taught me,” said the podium Jerry NIAF honoree Dr. Colangelo, the man Thomas M. Scalea, who brought home physician-in-chief Danny DeVito the gold for the USA at the University of & Aurelio De Laurentiis Basketball Team, the Maryland R Adams John Podesta & Fulvio Conti chairman of the board Cowley Shock Trau 8/ Spring 2011

ma Center, when Peter G. Angelos, an American trial lawyer and majority owner of the Baltimore Orioles, presented the Foundation’s Special Achievement Award in Science and Medicine.

Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, presented Joe Uva, president and CEO of Univision Communications, Inc., with the NIAF One America Award. Uva dedicated his award to his four grandparents, his parents, his children and wife of 32 years. “Today, immigrants are braver and more determined and drive this country’s success – they are not part of the problem but are the solution,” Uva explained.

This year’s NIAF Special Achievement Award in International Business was awarded to Dott. Fulvio Conti, CEO of Enel, Italy’s largest power company. John Podesta, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, presented the award.

Christopher J. Nassetta, president & CEO of HilPatricia de Stacy Harrison ton Worldwide, received & Christopher J. Nassetta the Foundation’s Special

Achievement Award in Business. He thanked the seven fabulous women in his life, his daughters and wife of 20 years, and the 600,000 Hilton team members.

Headlining for NIAF’s Friday Night Entertainment, actor Robert Davi presented “Davi Sings Sinatra: A Tribute to Sinatra, The Great American Songbook and America .”

NIAF Gala Committee Members Gabriel A. Battista and Dr. John P. Rosa encouraged guests to bid on one-of-akind auction items Paul J. Chiapparone during the Foundation’s Auction Showcase. Paul J. Chiapparone, a NIAF vice chair, accepted the keys to a FIAT Prima Edizione Cinquecento automobile.

To further encourage excellence in education, Frank A. Campione, a teacher of Italian language at Nottingham High School in Hamilton Township , N.J. and Ocean County College in Toms River, N.J., was the recipient of the eighth annual NIAF Teacher of the Year Award. Matthew J. DiDomenico, Sr, NIAF senior executive director, presented the award to Campione, a resident of Freehold Township, N.J. , during the National Council Network/Youth Networking Breakfast.

Other weekend events included Expo Italia, a two-day exhibition showcasing the best of Italy with special presentations by Dana Gioia, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, author Mark Rotella, guitarist Tom Jr. & Tony Reali Sinatra and chef Rossella Rago. Also during the gala weekend, NIAF hosted an Auction Showcase, the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Education Luncheon on education and health issues with Nick Valvano, CEO of The V Foundation, and actor Joe Pantoliano, founder and president of No Kidding, MeToo!, a Sports Roundtable with ESPN’s Tony Reali and Sal Paolantonio and Univision’s Fernando Fiore. The convention also featured screenings of the documentaries “Crimebuster: A Son’s Search For His Father,” and “Journey of Hope: Joe Leone’s L’Aquila Earthquake Relief Fund,” a conference on breast cancer awareness, “Let’s Talk About It!” chaired

by Dr. Antonio Giordano, president and founder of Sbarro Health Research Organization, Inc. and “Indulge in the Real Flavors of Italy without a Ticket! – Italian Wine and Food Seminar” presented by the Italian Trade Commission.

Proceeds from NIAF’s Anniversary Weekend events will benefit NIAF’s educational programs. Mark Reali, Sal Paolantonio your calendars for October 28- 29, 2011 when we celebrate NIAF’s 36thAnniversary Convention & Danny DeVito Weekend in Washington, D.C.

During the evening, NIAF also celebrated Italian culture in the U.S. and recognized Conair Corporation and RAI’s 50-year presence in America. Paolo Garimberti, president of RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana, received the 2010 NIAF Recognition Award Antonio Sabato, for the company’s dedication to quality programming and commitment to sharing Italian culture with the U.S. In a video, Lee Rizzuto, chairman of Conair Corporation, singled out his parents Julian and Josephine who started one of the largest, most successful and respected consumer products company 50 years ago in Brooklyn, N.Y.

NIAF Secretary John F. Calvelli introduced “It Happened in Italy,” a documentary based on Elizabeth Bettina’s book.

Calvelli recognized a group of Jewish Holocaust survivors who were present at the gala to pay homage to Italians and Italian Americans. The guests rose to their feet in applause.

Notables in attendance included Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Jr., Tony and Antonin Scalia, noted chef Lidia Bastianich, Mike Piazza, 12-time MLB all-star, actors Michael Badalucco, Dion, Linda Fiorentino, Joe Pantoliano, Antonio Sabato, Jr. and Annabella Sciorra. H.E. Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, ambassador of Italy to the U.S., in addition to sports and television personalities including ESPN’s Tony Reali and Sal Paolantonio and Univision’s Fernando Fiore.

This year NIAF awarded more than $1,000,000 for scholarships and cultural grants across the U.S. and Italy . Recognizing the younger generation, NIAF organized its 14th annual youth gala, which attracted young Americans of Italian descent from across the Robert Davi United States

NIAF is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to preserving the heritage of Italian Americans.

Visit www.niaf.org.

Spring 2011 / 9

Interview with BOBBY RYDELL IS ROCK AND ROLL REALLY DEAD?

By Cookie Curci

If Rock& Roll is really dead, no one bothered to tell Bobby Rydell and his devoted legends of fans. This multitalented rock and roller from the 1950s is still in high demand and as active at his illustrious career as he was way back when…yes, way back, before the Beatles, before Disco and long before Rap came along.

Like a lot of the young singers who came from South “Philly,” Rydell, whose real name is Bobby Ridarelli, was among the many young Italian American singers who had hit after hit on the Rock & Roll charts of the 1950s and ‘60s.. Before his generation of “Philly” stars, there was Mario Lanza and Al Martino, “South Philly” boys who kept the pop charts hopping and bopping with Italian American names.

Bobby Rydell fans will be happy to know that the singer was recently given the lifetime Achievement Award by UNICO at their national Convention In Hershey, Pa. and he will be an honored quest of the National Italian American Federation In Washington DC on Oct 23.

With Rydell’s generation of singer came a big change in music.

It was no longer, “Your hit parade” it was “Your teenager’s” hit parade and the standard singer of standard songs had to get with it... or move out of the way, “Cause Rock and Roll was here to stay!” The top ten songs now belonged to Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Vallie, Paul Anka, Connie Francis... oh, yes, and a young southern boy from Memphis, Tennessee by the name of “ELVIS”, but for the most part, it was Dino, Frank, Perry, Vic, Al and Mario who filled the airwaves in that renaissance of Italian American singers.

Eventually these singers of songs had to fade and new styles and trends would take their place. But there are those from that era that have found the magic marker that seems to stall off time and change. Bobby Rydell has found that magic formula that out last the fads and the fancies of the music fan to continue to find a fan base that has continued to support him though out his illustrious 50 year career. A good reason for that is that Bobby Rydell can sing, dance, act and play the drums. A good combination if you want to stay successful in this business

It seems his fans have never forgotten his hit songs that remained on the charts week after week with hits such as, “Volare”, “Wild One”, “We Got Love”, “kissin’ time”, “Swingin’ School” and, “Forget Him”. These songs sold a combined total of 25 million records. Rydell has also been honored by his hometown, they changed the name of the street where he was born to Bobby Rydell boulevard

Bobby Rydell travels all over the world performing, from Australia where he has been welcomed for 20 tours to Las Vegas, 10/Spring 2011

and Atlantic city, and still finds time to perform “The Golden Boys” in a live concert , a traveling stage production, with pals Frankie Avalon and Fabian,

We caught up with this dynamo of entertainment in between engagements, via the telephone, and with his kind permission he allowed me to put several questions to him.

Bobby, this is a great pleasure to be talking to a rock & roll “icon” . Thank you for taking a break from your busy schedule to answer some questions from your fans.

Cookie: Bobby, you’re still close friends with your teenage singing pals, Fabian and Frankie Avalon and even though you have the busiest schedule of any performer, I know you still continue to perform with your pals in the production, “ The Golden Boys”. This show is seen in every major city in the United States and plays to packed houses at Caesar’s Palace and Desert Inn in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, you have even taken the act to television for The American Music Awards, among many others. How did this Hit production come about?

Bobby: The GB show has been running for 25 years now, unbelievable to Frank, Fabe and myself. When we first sat down with the creator of the Golden Boys, producer Dick Fox, we all joked it would be fun to do for 6 months or so. Audiences still go wild for it; three guys who used to hang on street corners in Philly now hanging out on stage together after all these years. People love the show; it’s a fond look back at a time when things were simpler.

Cookie: There are many who think you have the style and mannerisms and sound of Sinatra, was he one of the singers who you most admired growing up in Philadelphia? If not, who was the greatest influence on you as a singer.

Bobby: My father was a fan of the Big Band sound and passed that love onto me. As a kid he took me to The Earle Theatre in Phila where all the greats performed. When I first saw Gene Krupa play I told my dad that’s what I want to be, a drummer! Sinatra, well he was like God to me - in fact - he came to see my opening night club act at the Copacabana in New York City. I was all of 19 years of age. Can you imagine being told Sinatra was in the audience?

Cookie: For the most part, all your songs were new and never recorded before. Where did you find your hit tunes? With so many recorded hits did you search out new material, or did people submit songs to you, or did the studios decide what you would record?

Bobby: Actually, Sway and Volare were covers. Dean Martin had recorded sway previously, as Volare was a huge hit for Domenico Menduno.

My version of these songs was recorded with a newer rock and roll flavor but with the big band instruments; strings and big beats. My first manager, Frank Day, selected most of the material that came to him from the record company and made most of the early decisions in my career.

Bobby: Actually it was my Grandmother who was the cook in our family/ she didn’t pass that onto me unfortunately. Give me a big bowl of escarole soup and I’m in heaven!!

Cookie: We know that Bob Marcucci discovered Frankie Avalon and Fabian. Their formative years with Marcucci were the basis for the movie, “ The Idol maker” (1980). But how did you break into show business? Who, or what, was your key that opened the door?

Bobby: When I was about 10, I won a talent contest on a local TV Show in Philadelphia called The Paul Whiteman TV Teen Club. From there they asked me to stay with the show as a performing “regular”. I joined a band a few years later, a group called Rocco & The Saints. One of my band mates was a trumpet player, Frankie Avalon. I was about 14 when we were playing at a club at the South Jersey Shore, when a gentleman, Frankie Day approached me and said he would like to manage me. I told him he had to talk to my father - from there it was a string of flop records and then Kissin’ Time was given to us - and the rest is history as they say.

Cookie: What’s coming up for you next in your tour dates and engagements? Also will there be a new CD in your future, your loyal fans hope so?

Bobby: We just finished up a West Coast tour with The Golden Boys, and will be doing some East Coast shows in October. I’ll be working in Niagara Falls & Pittsburgh and Las Vegas too.

Best way to check my tour schedule is to go to my web site and check the tour page at www.bobbyrydell.com Cookie: Bobby, you have a large fan base out there who enjoy seeing you at your personal appearances, but for those that can’t see you in person could you please tell us what songs are currently available on CD and where can they be purchased ?

Bobby: There are several CD’s for sale on my web site www.bobbyrydell.com. My latest work is one called “Now & Then” - a collection of standards I make my own. Also, there is a recent rerelease of two of my albums from 50 years ago from the Cameo label. That’s right, 50 years ago.

ABKCO Records decided to preserve these two treasures and digitally re-mastered them in stereo.

“The twin set is Bobby Rydell Salutes the Great Ones and Rydell at the Copa.”

Cookie: Is there any one particular entertainer that you admired, and inspired you in your career?

Bobby:“Sinatra, well he was like God to me - in fact - he came to see my opening night club act at the Copacabana in New York City. I was all of 19 years of age. Can you imagine being told Sinatra was in the audience?”

Cookie: Bobby, before we close this interview, I would like to ask you a question that as an Italian American who enjoyed my own mama’s cooking, and the cultural foods of my heritage, do you have a favorite Italian meal? And if so, can you cook it?

Upcoming Shows March 31, 2011 - Count Basie Theater - Red Bank, NJ April 2, 2011 - Palace Theater - Waterbury, CT - Golden Boys April 8, 2011 - Kravis Center for the Performing Arts - West Palm Beach, FL - Golden Boys April 9, 2011 - Ruth Eckerd Hall - Clearwater, FL - Golden Boys April 10, 2011 - Philharmonic Center for the Arts - Naples, FL - Golden Boys

Spring 2011/11

Pappas & Commissioner John P. Daley welcome Italian American Community Leader Velda Davino

Views of Campania, Basilicata and Puglia 9Days / 7 Nights

NIAF and Perillo’s Italy Vacation.com are proud to present this wounderful and Exciting trip to the scenic south of Italy.

Rates & Dates March 31, - Nov 17 $1999

Photo caption: Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Cook County Commissioner John P. Daley welcome Italian American community leader Velda Davino to her Annual Holiday Party. Several hundred persons from diverse ethnic and religious groups attended Pappas’ Holiday Party, which has become a tradition in the Treasurer’s Office at the Cook County Building in downtown Chicago. Guests viewed more than 90 Christmas trees decorated by different ethnic groups of Cook County and sang carols as the Treasurer played the keyboard.

April 28, May12, Sept. 22, Oct. 6, Oct. 20 $2299 May 26, July 13 $2499 Included:

Airfare from JFK to Naples - return to Brindisi Comfortable Coach bus English speaking tour host 2 nights in a 4-star hotel in Sorrento 1 night in a 4-star hotel in Vallo di Diano 4 nights in a 4-star restored farmhouse in Puglia 7 dinners in local restaurants (wine & water included) 1 pizza lunch in Naples 1 lunch at farmhouse in Vallo di Diano (drinks included) 1 lunch at farmhouse in Francavilla Fontana (drinks included) Full Day Excursion to Naples & Pompei Half Day Excursion to Amalfi Full Day Excursion to Alberobello & Matera Full Day Excursion to San Giovanni Rotondo and Gargano Half Day Excursion to Lecce Half Day Excursion to Apulia Countryside Entrance fees in Pompeii

For information please contact Perillo at: 1-800-Italy-25 or contact by E-Mail: NIAF@ItalyVacations.com

12/ Spring 2011

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, (right) co-chairperson of Peace Day celebrates Peace Day in her downtown Chicago office with a reception and awards ceremony. The mission of the Chicago Build the Peace Committee is to mainstream a Culture of Peace in Chicago. That means they work to promote the values, attitudes, behaviors and institutions that build peace in individuals, families, schools neighborhoods and the city as a whole. Awards were presented to community leaders for contributions to maintaining peace. “These individuals and organizations deserve to be honored and recognized for their outstanding humanitarian services,” Pappas says. Jennifer Kim, Chairperson, Chicago Build the Peace Committee accepts an award for keeping the peace. The Other 3 Tenors and Bill Buchholtz, Native American flute player performed at the event.

Alderman John Rice, working for the Citizens of the 36th ward!

By Amdrew Guzaldo

AldermanIJohn n the most recent Blizzard in the Chicago land area, Rice of the 36th ward showed how he works for the

people. He rolled up his sleeves, got into his pickup with shovels and began to dig people out that were stuck in this treacherous blizzard storm. John Rice, believes he works for the people, and not that the citizens work for him, that is why he has been so successful throughout his career!

As an inspector for the City of Chicago Department of Zoning, Alderman Rice understands the necessity for rational and reasonable zoning and public land-use planning, as well as the critical relationship between business development and safe and secure residential communities. As a homeowner and life-long resident of the 36th Ward, where Alderman rice resides with his wife Marijo and their two daughters Amy and Amanda.

Alderman Rice is determined to ensure that neighborhoods are protected from commercial violation of the rules. He is dedicated to providing a progressive and responsive business environment and to continue the thoughtful retention of existing business and the creation of new businesses along with the jobs and opportunities they represent to the residents of his ward.

Rice is well aware of how. to work with and through the complex bureaucracy that is the City of Chicago. As Chief of Staff to former Alderman Banks, he gained extraordinary knowledge and understanding of how to maintain and enhance a level of constituent service and advocacy unequaled in our city. On any given day, Alderman Rice can be seen

touring the streets and neighborhoods of the 36th Ward to ensure its streets are safe, clean and well-lit and its businesses are provided the city service and attention needed to grow and prosper.

The 36th Ward is a community, a broad neighborhood, of working families and growing children. Alderman Rice service on both school and park councils to directly and positively affect the quality and accessibility of our educational resources and the availability of our parks and the family recreational opportunities they represent. His dedication and determination to make a difference has improved the quality of life for every resident in the Ward.

Alderman Rice looks to the future with a sense of understanding and urgency. While acknowledging the reality of the economic, educational and environmental challenges our community must confront, he is determined to fight for better streets, safer neighborhoods, a vibrant business community, expanded public parks, libraries, and schools that respond to the educational demands of the 21st century.

Alderman Rice believes the greatest assets of the 36th Ward are its people, the working men and women and senior citizens - and its future our children.

Therefore he asks for the opportunity to serve the community, once again and humbly asks for your vote in this upcoming election, please VOTE John Rice Alderman of the 36th Ward

John Duro

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The Italian Cultural Foundation Founder Gina Biancardi Honored on Two Continents Ms. Biancardi awarded the prestigious Premio Salernitani Illustri Nel Mondo from the Salerno Region of Italy and selected by The National Organization of Italian American Women as one of their Three Wise Women of 2011

S

taten Island, N. Y., Monday, January 10, 2011 - The end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 were marked with two special honors for Casa Belvedere President and Founder Gina Biancardi. On December 18, 2010 the President of the Province of Salerno, the Honorable Edmondo Cirielli, durante la cerimonia di consegna del “Premio Salernitani illustri nel mondo” moderata dalla giornalista Rai, Susanna Petruni, svoltasi nel Salone Bottiglieri di Palazzo Sant’Agostino. Edmund Cirielli, presented Ms. Biancardi with the “Premio Salernitani Illustri Nel Mondo” and on January 7, 2011, Ms. Biancardi was honored by the National Organization of Italian American Women at their annual Three Wise Women Epiphany Celebration.

“I am extremely grateful to have been recognized by these organizations for my professional accomplishments and for my efforts to promote Italian Culture and Heritage through Casa Belvedere,” said Ms. Biancardi.

The Premio Salernitani Illustri Nel Mondo is presented to individuals with origins in the Salerno Region of Italy that reside in Italy or abroad who through either their professional, artistic, and philanthropic endeavors bring honor to the Region of Salerno. “It is important to recognize the role of the children who do honor to the land of Salerno,”Creare una forte coesione e lavorare per il recupero dell’appartenenza comunitaria è uno degli obiettivi dell’Amministrazione che presiedo». said The HonorableEdmondo Cirielli, durante la cerimonia di consegna del “Premio Salernitani illustri nel mondo” moderata dalla giornalista Rai, Susanna Petruni, svoltasi nel Salone Bottiglieri di Palazzo Sant’Agostino. Edmund Cirielli, when Ms. Biancardi received her award during the ceremony held in the Hall of the Palazzo Bottiglieri St. Augustine in Sarno. A ricevere il prestigioso conferimento (una medaglia d’oro unitamente ad una pergamena su carta d’Amalfi recante la motivazione sottoscritta dal Presidente della Provincia di Salerno, on.

Edmondo Cirielli), sono stati: la giornalista e scrittrice, Lucia Annunziata, originaria di Sarno, “voce tra le più autorevoli del giornalismo non soltanto italiano, che racconta da decenni il travaglio della contemporaneità con professionalità impareggiabile ed occhio colto, conferendo all’informazione la nobiltà del servizio e l’impegno della verità” ( motivazione letta dal Sindaco Amilcare Mancusi ) premiata dal presidente di Confindustria Agostino Gallozzi; il ragioniere generale dello Stato, Mario Canzio, (premio ritirato dal cognato dottor Claudio Trincali) originario di Salerno, “artigiano dello Stato, uomo delle istituzioni noto per la profonda scienza, ma anche per la modestia della persona e la sobrietà dello stile, che fanno di lui un galantuomo della Repubblica, oltre che un protagonista della storia contemporanea italiana” (motivazione letta dal vice sindaco di Salerno, Eva Avossa), premiato dal presidente del Comitato scientifico della Provincia Saverio Salerno; il generale di Corpo d’armata, capo di Stato maggiore del Comando Generale della Guardia di Finanza, Michele 14/ Spring 2011

Adinolfi, nato da genitori originari di Cava de’ Tirreni, “impegnato nella difesa della legalità e della democrazia, non si è mai fermato di fronte alle difficoltà di luoghi e territori arroccati nelle protezioni dell’anti-Stato, ma si è espresso sempre con alte testimonianze di valore e di sagacia strategica”( motivazione letta dal Sindaco Marco Galdi), premiato dal presidente della Provincia di Salerno, on.Ms. Biancardi, whose mother is from Salerno, received the award in recognition for her success as the Vice President of Industry and Public Relations of The CollegeBound Network a company that she formed with her husband and as the founder and president of Casa Belvedere, The Italian Cultural Foundation. In addition, Ms. Biancardi has been selected as one of Three Wise Women by the National Organization of Italian American Women.

Adapted from the Epiphany of the Three Wise Men, this NOIAW tradition recognizes the professional accomplishments of three Italian American women who are committed to the values of their Italian ancestry and exemplify the wisdom attributed to The Three Kings. The honor recognizes three women who have excelled in their respective professional fields while remaining dedicated to their culture and their families. The reception will be held on January 7, 2011at the elegant Columbus Citizens Foundation in Manhattan and benefits NOIAW’s Scholarship, Mentor and Exchange Programs for College Students.

In May of 1985, at only 20 years of age, Gina received her B.A. from Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY. She graduated with a GPA of 4.0, Summa Cum Laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. While working full time, Gina also went to graduate school in the evenings and received an M.A. from New York University.

In early 1989, Gina co-founded The CollegeBound Network; a multimedia student recruitment company that has helped millions of learners connect with their educational institutions. With over 20 years experience in marketing and student recruitment/ retention, Gina continues to play an integral role in the CollegeBound Network’s success story. In May of 2007, Gina launched ReachStudentsOnline.org which seeks to educate colleges and universities, career schools, Fortune 1000 companies, military branches, and educational companies on the benefits, protocol,and efficiencies of online student recruitment As a first generation Italian- American, Gina is very passionate about her heritage and culture and has been involved in the Italian American community since she was a teen. She is the co-founder of FIERI, a national, networking organization for young Italian Americans. Gina currently serves as FIERI’s Alumni Coordinator and chairs its Advisory Committee. In recognition for all her “FIERI” efforts, Gina has been the recipient of several FIERI awards. Gina is also a member of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF); The Columbus Citizens Foundation and the National Organization of Italian American Women (NOIAW).

For more information visit www.casa-belvedere.org

Natalina Maggio, A Rising Star!

by Ivana Gentile

Y

ou can’t miss her! Her voice is cute and highpitched. You may have watched many of her acting roles on shows like Life, I Did Not Know That, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, Criminal Minds, and Mad TV (Sex & the City parody). Children have heard her voice through watching the town computer on Rabocon (Cartoon Network), Molly on Kid Elf (Nickelodeon), and other animations. She has been on films such as Last Stop, Tic, Couples Retreat, Get Him to the Greek, and more. This bright and beautiful rising star is Natalina Maggio.

Natalina who describes herself in three words as outgoing, bubbly and adventurous is also a model, but she loves acting, especially in comedy.

Recently, Natalina co-starred on NBC’s Community and FOX’s Raising Hope. “I really prefer acting to modeling, because I love the challenge of bringing a character to life! I’m quirky and “out there,” and I just love being really artistic; anyone who knows me, knows I’m a bundle of energy,” Natalina said.

Thanks to her unique voice, when Natalina was a teenager and worked her first job at Disneyland, she got attention and ended up in the entertainment business. “I got pulled into voice-over work because of my voice!” Natalina mentioned. Her first job was voice acting for a Japanese cartoon series called Gunparade March. She then landed her first official acting job for Mad TV in a Sex & the City parody where she impersonated Kristen Davis’ character named Charlotte and she co-starred in All of Us produced by Will Smith. Natalina added: “I have had the same voice my whole life! In fact, when I was a kid it was even a little more high-pitched! My mom told me when I was little that I would have a career because of my high-pitched voice…Funny enough, Moms are always right!”

According to Natalina, the “Maggio” family could not be more Italian. She grew up with Italian traditions and amazing Italian home cooked meals when her nonna was alive. “We could not take my nonna to a nice restaurant for her birthday, because she would complain to my Dad that her cooking was better! She was right, it was!” Natalina said. Her nonno died before she was born, so Natalina never learned to speak Italian and missed out on huge Italian family dinners that her father always mentions and this is why her goal is to learn to speak Italian. Natalina added: “My nonna used to call me her “Little Pasta Girl.” I love homemade Italian pasta of any kind to this day. I just love Italian food! I cook almost everything with olive oil, which is what we, Italians do.” Natalina mentioned that her favorite Italian singer is Andrea Bocelli because his voice is touching, and she loves to sit and relax to his singing.

In the next ten years, Natalina would like to be in control of her career and continue advancing. “I have enjoyed bouncing around on different stuff; this has meant always something new and fresh,” she said. She now would like to settle into one or two projects regularly. “This would give me a chance to sink my teeth into a character for a while and show people even more of what I am “made of” as an actress,” Natalina

explained. She would also like to do more animated voice-over work and play a vampire, witch, villain, or some kind of fantasy character in a film. One of her biggest goals is to work with Tim Burton because she loves how artistic and dark his works can be. Natalina has written her first feature length script with Michael Desante called House of Lies and she has also written a treatment or pilot for an animated series called Dot Nat, so she would like to start producing her own projects.

On a personal level, Natalina would like to find her soul mate, get married and have children. She would like to have a beautiful house but also do some traveling and see the world. Natalina loves men who are funny and intelligent. She said: “A man who can make me laugh is in, but he also has to be adventurous and ambitious. I hope to find a man who loves to travel because I do…” Natalina would also like to own a place in Italy some day. She added: “I also love animals and kids, so I love a man who is family orientated. I love to be babied and spoiled, so I also love a man who is very affectionate and full of surprises!”

According to Natalina, voice-over Teacher and Actress Cynthia Songe was her mentor, so when Cynthia passed away it was really hard for her. “When I found out, it was like someone punched me and I had no air.

She gave me the confidence to fly in this industry!” Natalina said. Cynthia was like a mother away from home, teacher, coach and friend to Natalina, so she loved and respected Cynthia a lot. She mentioned: “I cherish the memories I have of her and every time I step in a voice-over booth or an audition, I can hear her voice, laugh and inspirational words of wisdom!” Natalina really cherishes the memory of meeting Cynthia and the life changing moment it was for her, because she said she was just a shy, insecure and naive teenage girl at that time. She added: “The confidence she gave me has made me who I am today! I really miss her! She was a light to me and to so many people and she taught me to be a light to everyone around me.”

At the end of the interview, Natalina mentioned that she admires women like Angelina Jolie and Audrey Hepburn because they are role models to her and have used their talent and success to help other people. Natalina lastly added: “This is something important to me and my ultimate goal is to make a difference in the world around me.”

Spring 2011 / 15

a r e h c s a M Un Ballo in

By John Rizzo

W

hen you hear people say they “were at the opera,” or that they’re “going to the opera,” nineteenth or early 20th century. You can go a long way towards understanding the operas of this period if you realize that in these works, the dramatic and musical focus is on Women.

The reason for this is simple. Since the beginning of theater with the Greeks (c. 500 BC), through the Shakespearean period and up to the late 18th century, women were not allowed to perform, that is, act or sing, on stage. This all changed in the wake of the American and French revolutions.

Indeed, these cataclysmic events led to the most radical changes in society since Day One of human civilization. One of these changes was that women were now allowed to sing and act in public.

On the opera stage women had only been allowed to dance, scantily clad, of course, in ballets, but now they could actually make themselves heard. The phenomenon of a woman actually performing in public was such an incredible novelty that theater goers were absolutely captivated, and composers and producers of opera were forced by an overwhelming demand to supply dramatic and

Frank Lopardo & Stephanie Blythe, musical vehicles that prominently featured women.

Whereas in the Baroque period, the legendary castrati had dominated opera performance, and men played all the roles, including female characters, in the new Romantic opera, it was the prima donna who now ruled supreme. The appetite for performing women was almost insatiable. Gone were men playing the parts of women. Now, quite often, as in Bellini’s version of Romeo and Juliet, it was common to find women playing the parts of men! True, in most Romantic operas men are men and women, women. But the concept of a woman playing a male character has never completely disappeared. In operas from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro to Strauss’ Der Rosencavelier, the “pants role” (where a woman plays a man) is very evident. Even Verdi, the greatest dramatist next to Shakespeare, always a stickler for naturalism, included pants roles in a number of his mature works. In his never-completed 16/Spring 2011

Frank Lopardo, Stephanie Blythe

Il Re Lear, he even conceived the male character of the Fool as a part for female contralto.Another general rule about romantic opera, especially in the tragic literature, which makes up the vast majority of works, is that the main female characters are put into dramatically impossible situations, thereby making their music more emotionally powerful and multifaceted.

One of the clearest examples of this is Amelia in Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera (1859). Amelia is a married woman who comes to grips with the reality that she is in love with her husband’s best friend and boss! (Any ladies out there ever have that happen?) Basically a good girl, Ameila tries to have this forbidden feeling expunged by black magic but, naturally, it doesn’t work, and her husband finds out about her true feelings and assumes that she has been unfaithful—an offense punishable by death.

The husband relents on killing Amelia, but not before he forces her to pick a winning note out of a vase—a note that has the name of the lucky man who gets to kill her husband’s boss and dearly beloved! This is typical of female character situations in Romantic opera.

Ever since I heard that Lyric Opera was going to stage Un ballo this season, I was filled with excited anticipation.

That’s because the cast was one that I would choose myself for a memorable Verdi production. I was not disappointed.

Frank Lopardo, whom we profiled in an earlier issue of this magazine, was brilliant as Gustavo. In an age when

good tenors are a rarity, it has been a joy to witness the blossoming of Frank’s artistry over the past two decades. His “La rivedrà nell’estasi” and “Di’ tu se fedele il fluto m’aspetta” were sung with authority and flair in the first act. His fine singing did not flag throughout the piece.

Several years ago, before he became a star, I heard Mark Delavan for the first time in person singing Rigoletto with the Florentine in Milwaukee.

I was amazed then at the depth of his voice. A week ago, he sang the national anthem before the BearsEagles game and I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to hear a voice of his quality perform a song that is more often than not, trampled on. As Renato in Lyric’s Un Ballo, he is simply magnificent. Although he has the power and sonority in his lower register to be classified as a “bass-baritone” (as evidenced by his being cast as Wagner’s Wotan), he also has that essential lyric quality and high range to sing the most famous of the wickedly difficult Verdi roles.

Not only did he sing the “Eri tu” beautifully, but he is also a Frank Lopardo, in wonderful actor.

A Masked Ball The role of Amelia is considered a “heavy” one, like Donna Anna, Desdemona, Turandot and others, often sung by sopranos more at home playing Brünnhilde. But Amelia is definitely a Verdi role, albeit more dramatic than normal, and the Lyric casted a lady (also profiled earlier in this magazine) for the part who is as good an interpreter of the master as anyone I can think of—Sondra Radvanovsky. She was superb!

Her second act aria “Ma dall’ arido stella divulsa” brought the house down. She was also brilliant in the opening of the third act when she pleads for her life. Here she was accompanied by some masterful and tasty cello work by Patrick Jee. In her Lyric debut, contralto Stephanie Blythe was absolutely excellent as Ulrica. I would have liked a stronger sound from this production’s Oscar (the pants role), Kathleen Kim, but she does have a pretty voice and excellent technique. Solid performances were also turned in by Craig Irvin and Sam Handley as Counts Ribbing and Horn respectively.

“In my opinion, there is no company in the world that could have done a better job with this Verdi gem!”

Calendar of Entertainment Events Laura Pausini

“THE DILEMMA”

REVIEW

By Andrew Guzaldo

Concert Dates:

The Dilemma, was Directed by Ron Howard and produced by Ron Howard and Vince Vaughn released by Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.

Oct. 19, 2011 Pangea - Charity Auction Oct. 21, 2011 10 Years of Little Dream Foundation Oct. 22, 2011 Duet with Phil Collins Oct. 29, 2011 Laura Pausini Lyric Studio For Tickets call, 1-866-353-5167

Bobby Rydell Concert Dates: Mar. 6, 2011 Mohen Sun Casino. Unacasville, CT Mar. 26, 2011 Paramount Theatre. Peekskill, NY Mar. 31, 2011 Count Basie Theatre. Red Bank, NJ Apr. 2, 2011 Palace Theatre. Waterbury, CT Apr. 8, 2011 Kravis Cetner. W. Palm Beach, F Apr. 9, 2011 Ruth Eckerd Hall. Clearwater, FL

Chieli Minucci 2011 Shows Mar. 10 -13 San Diego (Oasis Jazz Awards) Apr. 1Reading, PA (Berks Jazz Festival) Apr 3 Mohegan Sun, CT

The new Chieli Minucci & Special EFX double disc CD, with bonus 32 page booklet, ‘Without You’ is now available for purchase! It’s been 25+ years of solid touring and we’re celebrating with this special release to commemorate this milestone in the band’s history!

Here’s how to order: For an autographed copy by Chieli contact us at: chieli@aol.com also available via CD Baby and iTunes ....Hope to see you at one of our shows!

Chieli Clerk Brown Honors Four Prominent Italian Americans During Italian Amerian Heritage Month Celebration.

The Honorable Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, pictured with the four honorees for the Clerk’s Office annual Italian American Heritage Month Celebration that took place at Ristorante Al Teatro in Chicago on October 21, 2010. From (L to R) Clerk Dorothy Brown, honorees: Vince Gerasole of CBS2 Chicago, Richard Pellegrino, Executive Director of the West Cook Municipal Conference, Jessica DePinto, President and Founder of innerTrack Strategies, Antonio Romanucci, Partner, Romanucci and Blandin and Master of Ceremonies, Mark Giangreco of ABC 7.

You must have seen, the numerous advertisements and trailers for “The Dilemma”, throughout the year.

You might be forgiven for expecting a stupid, offensive guy comedy. It is entirely possible that Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures wants you to expect just that. “The Dilemma” stars Vince Vaughn, and Kevin James. Vince Vaughn’s latest movie was Couples Retreat, and Kevin James played in the “Paul Blart, Mall Cop.” Promotional clips released last year caused expectations of laughter, and jokes making those that viewed the trailers go and spend the time and watch The Dilemma!

Still, “The Dilemma” does not entirely deal with the characterization of comedy. Vince Vaughn, plays Ronny he is not sure if he should tell his friend, and business partner Nick, played by Kevin James that Nick’s wife Geneva played by Winona Ryder, has been cheating on him.

In launching a covert operation in following her affair, Vaughn gets himself in numerous embarrassing situations, such as getting covered with welts after climbing through poisonous plants, in a botanical garden.

This leaves his girlfriend Jennifer Connely, in a precarious position since, she is also friends with the couple in question. The movie is much like, a real life experience where you may know something about a good friend, that may hurt him, so in essence you keep it from him or her. Therefore you have “The Dilemma.”

As he did in the Break-Up,’ Vaughn shows his talent, in his verbal rumbling, and swift acting ability. . He’s funny and more than a little scary, but he also gets to show off his sensitive side: He weeps, he prays and shows off his fake crying diner demo that might be a twist on ‘When Harry Met Sally.’ Ryder is terrific in this sequence, James is panicky from start to finish; Connelly, as the only real grown-up in the picture, glides through it all with mature conditioning Vaughn plays Ronny’s agonizing indecision perfectly, throwing his large body into remarkably subtle postures of anxiety and doubt. He also displays a curious sort of masochism, allowing himself to be pummeled, humiliated and bloodied over and over again, exactly until it isn’t funny anymore and then until, once again, it is. Ms. Ryder, playing the least sympathetic character with unflinching dignity and candor, is in many ways the reason “The Dilemma” works as well as it does.

For his part Ron Howard (Producer) handles the transition from humor to heartbreak smoothly, so that when raw, intense emotions rise to the surface there is somewhere for them to go.

The Dilemma’ is exactly within its slick, cozy, commercial parameters it has an interestingly texture. There is some rock classic hits, and views of lived-in Chicago neighborhoods to offset the postcard ready skyline shots. If the film never probes too deeply into the pain and frustration of Nick and Geneva’s marriage, that may be because it sees them almost entirely from Ronny’s perspective.

Though he has feelings, he’s ultimately a pretty shallow guy. And the movie is not all that deep, but it does go further than many of its kind in acknowledging the hurt and difficulty that are the deep wellsprings of any comedy worthy of the name, The Dilemma is a movie, worth seeing, as one can dispense from the daily routine, and enjoy a comedically performance with “The Dilemma!”

Spring 2011/17

Cugine Corner

By: Johnny Meatballs DeCarlo

C

elebrity chefs are a popular bunch these days—almost like rock stars.

Some are literally just like rock stars, on and off the camera. Of course, TV chefs have been around for a long time dating back to the classic pioneer, Julia Child. Nadia Giosa has been dubbed “the Julia Child of the Net generation.” A number of these chefs, now crossover from traditional cooking shows. Obviously Rachael Ray went on to her highly successful daytime talk show (just don’t ever put Nadia G in the same category as RR, the two are like apples and oranges).

Others like Guy Fieri—in addition to having several Food Network programs also is the host of the “Minute To Win It” primetime game show and then there’s “Cake Boss,” Buddy Valastro—who has found his success in the “food reality show” format…

The ironic thing is that while Nadia’s show is anything but traditional, she does hold true to her family and her heritage—the inspiration for all that she does. Just like the unconventional Fieri and his “Knuckle Sandwich” endeavors and yours truly with The Johnny Meatballs Empire. No one however, can really compare to Nadia G, who transformed her extreme you tube show into “Bitchin’ Kitchen” (now airing on Food Network Canada & Cooking Channel in the States). It’s an insane blend of culinary arts, comedy and music. She is going to be a crossover star in whatever area she chooses. “Bitchin’ Kitchen” is already a crossover cooking show—it’s so incredibly unique that it may one day serve as the model for a whole new genre of cooking shows.

As soon as I started watching Nadia I got hooked and immediately contacted her. We seem to share a lot of creative ideas. Perhaps one day we’ll be able to hook up on something—as we both certainly see eye to eye on the importance of constant over the top marketing. She has her own out of the box persona and all the branding that goes with it. This rockin’ Italian chick has already published a book, sells her own “Rock Your Kitchen” t-shirts and guitar-shaped spatulas to name a few BK branded items. She has carved out her niche audience but she has admitted that she does have “haters.”

Some may question if the cooking part is just a vehicle for fame but let’s not forget she’s Italian and her pride and passion for food is 100% authentic. Nadia was gracious enough to grant me a phone interview, where we chatted about the progression in popularity of the empire she created with “Bitchin’ Kitchen” and lots more…

18/Spring 2011

JOHNNY MEATBALLS: “Bitchin’ Kitchen” is an absolutely amazing show. You definitely need to be diffeent to stand out from the pack, and you have developed a concept that is exactly that. Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. So first things first, are you as fun and wild off-camera as you are on TV? NADIA G: Thank you, well with a name like Johnny Meatballs how could I refuse? Now to answer your question I think that depends on the context, so my answer to that would be sometimes. I am constantly writing skits and building up “BK” and doing a lot of business-related things…but that all being said, there’s still definitely time left to party!

JM: Ok Nadia, I want to tell you, you have a HUGE following here in my home state of New Jersey. Where I am from, we have lots of Italians and my family actually is Italian by way of Canada and my old neighborhood has many paisans from Southern Italy who immigrated through Canada first. Do you have any plans to come to the New York area? I could see you doing “Bitchin’ Kitchen” on Broadway.

NG: “Bitchin’ Kitchen: The Musical!” Hey, you never know! I’m actually always in New York; I visit at least twice a month. When I go, the first thing I do is shkoff!!! I love New York pizza like Pomodoro’s and just recently I went to The Spotted Pig…There’s so many great places to eat with cuisines of all different cultures. I also used to come to Wildwood every summer when I was a kid. I have a real warm spot for all the kitschy boardwalk stuff and the t-shirt stores and all that.

JM: There’s something about you that myself and a lot of my friends can relate to, you seem to have some “Jersey” in you—maybe it ties to the fact that you came to the Jersey Shore growing up! And of course you know I have to now ask you what you think of the show, “Jersey Shore.”

NG: I think the show is funny but it doesn’t define all Italians. It’s entertainment! Here in Canada, I actually know of a lot of people just like them (not so much with the tanning), but they do dance to that type of music and use the hair gel and all that…There’s different types of Italians all over, and the thing is, we are all from parents or grandparents who were immigrants. I like to think that I can connect with them all.

JM: There definitely needs to be more unification among all the different classes and groups of Italians, I can see you bridging that gap. Now we are both children of the ‘80s, and the “feel” of “Bitchin’ Kitchen” to me, contains hints of the cult Saturday morning classic, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,”—except of course you are an Italian female in

stilettos who cooks. You sing, you have weekly themes and even your own language. Are there any comedians or performances you’ve looked at as inspiration, and how did you assemble your cast of characters?

NG: I grew up watching Peewee too, and also great comedians like Chris Farley and a little bit of Carol Burnett when I was real young. And I loved watching “The Golden Girls,” which was a brilliant piece of comedy writing. Right now I really love Chelsea Handler. As far as the characters, we had a casting call for them and I found that the most authentic characters were the ones that fit best. Like taking Panos, the Greek fishmonger…his family has really been in the fish business for generations. We expanded him to meat as well because we don’t only cook with fish…and the Spice Agent is someone that really knows his spices!

JM: Well if you ever need a “Meatball King from New Jersey, give me a call!

NG: I will…and then you may just find yourself on season 2!

JM: You went from hosting your own series of web shows to Food Network Canada and now Cooking Channel. I’ve been making web videos of my food related adventures for a while now and recently was on the reality show, “My Big Friggin’ Wedding” on Vh1, which documented my big Italian wedding as well as my start-up meatball business. My meatballs are not gimmicks, but because I have my own way of doing things it takes a bit of convincing for others to taste them and believe how good they are.

You’re obviously passionate about what you cook, but do you ever find people may not take you seriously because of your style?

NG: That’s a great question, and at the end of the day you can’t take yourself too seriously. At first I was bothered when people said negative things about my show but now it just rolls off my back. Most of the time, I now get people to convert. After they actually take the time to watch my show, they see that the food is solid! Yes I do a lot within the comedy format but my approach is just making accessible recipes that I feel anyone can make. I’m not a culinary-trained chef but anyone can cook and I have found that a lot of the dishes I prepare inspire new generations to try them, out.

of the “vanilla” celebrity chefs out there. I see you as more like him than say a Giada type. Would you agree with that?

NG: Well you know what, some people like vanilla and some people like chocolate. I definitely am a huge fan of Guy. He’s a great guy and I always get hungry watching him tour the country with “Triple D.” JM: One of my favorite shows. Do you have a favorite recipe or dish?

NG: I’d have to say pasta. Right now I’ve been working on a dish called “Gnocchi Poutine,” which incorporates the Canadian food of poutine, which is French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. I’m not talking about the red gravy as a lot of you in your area call it, but brown gravy.

JM: Well I only call the red kind “gravy” on Sunday with the meatballs, but that’s sparked lots of debates around here! So what is next for Nadia G? NG: Ha-ha!! Well, I’m excited to be a host in the upcoming ZAP Fest (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) Festival in San Francisco…I’ve also been writing a lot of comedy songs and I am planning to release a compilation CD. And of course, I’m designing lots of new Bitchin’ Kitchen t-shirts and other “merchandise.” Tell all your friends in New Jersey to follow me on my facebook fan page! (http://www.facebook.com/BitchinKitchen).

JM: Oh we already are, Nadia! Hey, can I send you a copy of my “Meatball Song,” I think you’d enjoy it?

NG: Please do!

Big thanks to Nadia G for taking time out of her busy schedule to chat on the phone with me! …And take it from Johnny Meatballs here; this girl will be a nationwide sensation before you know it. Think “Alice in Wonderland” with Alice as mad as the Mad Hatter (but in wayyyyy hotter high heels). But you don’t have to take my word for it, tune in Wednesday nights at 10:30 and Saturday nights at 11:00 on Cooking Channel and see for yourself. My words can’t begin to describe this weird, wild stuff “The Nadster” brings to table (pun indeed!) She has mass appeal and if I can help spotlight her even a little here, we’ll all be speaking her language soon—a slang that consists of the familiar JM: Your rockin’ attitude also has some elements of a Guy Fi- Southern Italian sub-cultural dialect—none of which contain the eri, my culinary hero, who similarly has his own laid back phrase “E.V.O.O.”She can be cute and campy but also a bit raunchy and look, vernacular and somewhat rebellious nature unlike most risqué,offering something for everyone—young and old,male or female.

Spring 2011/19

Roman and British History of 449 AD

Bishop Stillingleet, writing of London, stated that after the fullest inquiry he was inclined “to believe it of a Roman foundation, and no older than the time of Claudius” and several antiquaries and historians hold the same opinion. Although Geoffrey of Monmouth’s vision of a great British city of Troynovant, founded by Brut, a descendant of Aeneas, must be relegated to the limb of myths, we need to necessarily dispute the existence of a British London. There can be little doubt that the name of London has a Celtic origin, and therefore there is probably a grain of truth on Geoffrey’s fanciful description. The place was probably very small, but it must have been chosen for its commanding position on the banks of a fine river, and there may be some truth in the assertion that one Belinus formed a port or haven on the site of the present Billingsgate, although it does not follow that “he also made a gate of wonderful structure,” or “over it built a prodigiously large tower” (Historia, lib iii. cap X). What a British town was like we learn from Julius Caesar, who tell us that it “was nothing more than a thick wood, fortified with a ditch and rampart, to serve as a place of retreat against the incursions of their enemies” (De Bello Gallico, v. 21). We may therefore imagine a clearing out of the great forest of Middlesex, extending probably from the site of St Paul’s Cathedral to that of the Bank of England, with the dwellings of the Britons spread about the higher ground looking down upon the Thames. The late Mr Thomas Lewin believed that London had attained its prosperity before the Romans came, and held that it was probably the capital of Cassivellaunus, which was

20/Spring 2011

taken and sacked by Julius Caesar. Not satisfied with affirming the existence of a British London, he went further, and indicated its extent. On the hill situated between the river Flete on the west and the Wallbrook on the east was seated the British town. The western gate was Ludgate and the eastern Dowgate, and much of Lewin’s argument rests upon the fact that these two names are of British origin.

The origin of London will probably always remain a subject of dispute, for want of decisive facts. A negative fact is that few if any remains of an earlier date than the Roman occupation have been discovered; but, on the other hand, London could scarcely have come to be the important commercial center described by Tacitus if it had only been founded a few years previously, and after the conquest of Claudius. Now there can be no doubt that the Britons made considerable progress during the period between Julius and Claudius, and it seems upon the whole highly probable that London as a British settlement may have come into existence then. There is some reason to believe that there were two settlements, one on the north and the other on the south bank of the Thames. If so they would be within the territories of distinct and possibly hostile tribes. There might be a ferry, and even, as we shall mention presently, a bridge of some description towards the close of the period, but this point will come before us again.

The Roman occupation of Britain extended over a period equal to that which has elapsed since Henry VIII.’s reign. During these centuries (43409 A.D.) there was ample time for cities to grow up from small begin

nings, to overflow their borders, and to be more than once rebuilt. The earliest Roman London must have been a comparatively small place, but it probably contained a military fort intended to cover the passage of the river. The mouth of the Thames was then only a few miles off, large portions of what are now the counties of Kent and Essex being marshes overflowed with water. The original investigations of Sir Christopher Wren led him to take this view, and he expressed the opinion that “the whole country between Camberwell Hill and the hills of Essex might have been a great frith or sinus of the sea, and much wider near the mouth of the Thames, which made a large plain of sand at low water, through which the river found its way. This mighty broad sand (now good meadow) was

restrained by large banks still remaining, and reducing the river into its channel; a great work, of which no history gives account; the Britons were too rude to attempt it, the Saxons too much busied with continual wars; he concluded therefore it was Roman work” The opinion that these embankments are Roman work is the one generally held, but so greatly does opinion vary on all these points that some have supposed that they were not built until the reign of Henry VI. Neither Strato nor the elder Pliny

As Theodosius is said to have left Britain in a s sound and secure condition, with its dilapidated places restored, it has been supposed that to him was due the wall of the later Londonium. According to old tradition, however, Constantine the Great walled the city at the request of his mother Helena, who was said to be a native of Britain. In spite of these various references we should know very little of Roman London if it had not been that a large number of excavations have been made in different parts of the city, which have disclosed a considerable amount of early history. These go to prove that the early city occupied a somewhat small area, for it has been discovered that the site of the Royal Exchange was originally a gravel-pit, and had then become a dirty pond outside the walls used as a receptacle for refuse.

Cemeteries also once existed in Cheap side, on the site of St Paul’s, close to Newgate, and various other places knows to have been included in the later Roman London. As it was illegal in Roman times to bury within the walls, these places must at one time have been extra-mural. Among the large number of important sepulchral remains lately found by Taylor in Newgate Street were several ossuaries, or leaden vessels for the reception of the calcined bones of the dead. Little attention had been paid to this object until Roach Smith specially alluded to them in an article on “Roman Sepulchral Remains discovered near the Minories, London” Subsequently M r Smith wrote a very elaborate article on “Roman Leaden Coffins and Ossuaria” (Ibid., vii 170-201), in which he refers to the wealth of the British mines as one of the chief incentives to the conquest of the country by the Romans, ands points out that the large use of the costly metal, lead, : manufactured with such skill and so profusely as to supply not only the inhabitants of the towns, but those of villages and villas, with one of the daily requisites of advanced civilization,” proves the prosperity and even luxury of the province. When Sir Christopher Wren was making excavations for his building of Bow Church he sunk about 18 feet deep through made ground, when he came upon “a Roman causeway of rough stone, close and well-rammed, with Roman brick and rubbish at the bottom for a foundation, and all firmly cemented.” In consequence of this discovery the great architect came to the conclusion, which was corroborated by other reasons, that the causeway he had found continued for the whole length of the town, and formed the northern boundary - “the breadth then north and south was from the causeway now Cheapside to the river Thames, the extent east and west from Tower Hill to Ludgate, and the principal middle street or Praetorian Way was Watling Street”

Spring 2011 /21

From our Family to Yours...

As we reach our 25th anniversary, the owners and staff at Cumberland Chapels want to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Chicagoland area for your loyalty and trust throughout the years.

Thank you for allowing our family to serve yours.

Cumberland Chapels • 8300 W. Lawrence Ave • Norridge, Illinois, 60706 • (708) 456-8300

WWW.CUMBERLANDCHAPELS.COM

Six Tips for a Healthier “Fresh From the Dentist” Smile

People love to experience that “fresh from the dentist” feeling, when the tip of the tongue glides effortlessly and smoothly over a freshly cleaned set of pearly whites. So, why not have that feeling all of the time?

If you want a healthier-feeling mouth, follow these tips:

• Brush regularly.

Yes, you’ve heard it over and over: brush your teeth twice every day. It also helps to brush after eating and snacking whenever possible. Brushing keeps small food particles from becoming food for harmful bacteria. If possible, brush for a full two minutes.

• Drink green tea. A study published in the Journal of Periodontology in 2009, found that routine consumption of green tea might, help promote healthy teeth and gums. Of the 940 men evaluated, the study found that those who regularly drank green tea had superior periodontal health than subjects who consumed less green tea.

• Use probiotics. The use of products like EvoraPlus probiotic mints (www.myevoraplus.com) goes a long way in securing a good base for oral care. The probiotic mints add beneficial bacteria to the mouth, leaving less room for harmful bacteria to grow.

• Floss once a day. Flossing helps clean and remove tartar where your toothbrush cannot reach.

• Irrigate the teeth and gums daily. Oral irrigation helps to remove food particles trapped below the gum line. The addition of an antimicrobial fluid in your irrigator can further help remove the plaque that harbors harmful bacteria.

• Take nutrition seriously. Avoiding sugar is key, but also watch out for simple or highly refined carbohydrates. Consume plenty of vitamin C, as it plays a vital role for building healthy gums and helps boost the immune system. One of the best defenses against poor oral health is a strong immune system -- and healthy food is your best source of essential vitamins and minerals.

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Spring 2011/23

Rome on a Somber Evening Marvelous Regions Of Italy

Rossella Rago, Cooking with Nonna and Their 24 Hour Restaurant “Italiano” Battle

By Ivana Gentile

Can you imagine opening a restaurant in just 24 hours?

Do you even think you or anyone can? Well, Rossella Rago along with her mother and nonna could because they won the 24 Hour Restaurant Battle that is aired on the Food Network!

Many of you may remember Rossella from Amici Journal‘s seventh issue in spring of 2010. She is known for appearing on Confessions of a Shopaholic, 13 Going On 30, and The Sopranos. Rossella is also a host of cooking show and food websiode series called Cooking with Nonna.

Rossella’s story is quite extraordinary! A little over a year ago, Rossella went to visit a psychic and was told that in one year she would be on the Food Network. Rossella said: “At that point I had just launched Cooking with Nonna and the idea of being on the Food Network felt completely inconceivable.”

One day, Rossella and her father were eating at a restaurant and Rossella was recognized by the owner. The owner of the restaurant then started to distribute flyers to promote Cooking with Nonna. Within some weeks, Rossella got an email from one of the restaurant’s patrons who had received the flyer and within that email was a link to an add on Craigslist that promoted Food Network’s search for mothers or grandmothers, and daughters or granddaughters for a new competition reality show. “Needless to say this seemed right up my alley, so I quickly emailed the casting people my information.

We heard back right away, and after filming a quick and HILARIOUS audition tape, me, my mother and Nonna were officially booked for the “italiano” battle!” Ros26/Spring 2011

sella said.

Rossella mentioned that she didn’t think about competing much because it felt like a “very positive, natural step in the right direction” for her and her family. Producers did not give them many details about the competition. Rossella and her family were not too worried about the competition because they have hosted hundreds of parties and family dinners where they have cooked for many…of course they are Italian! “I didn’t worry for one moment how my mother and I would come across on the camera…I did, however worry a bit about how Nonna would handle being in a stressful competition. She’s 77 years old and doesn’t move as well as she did…but Nonna blew me away with her strength and complete charisma in front of the camera!” Rossella said.

As we know, Rossella’s teammates were her mother and nonna, so Rossella took the opportunity to mention how she could have not chosen better partners for the competition. Rossella said: “I am so incredibly lucky to be related to two dynamic, beautiful and intelligent women. It fills me with such pride that three generations of Italian and Italian-American women were able to come together as a team on national television and be victorious. I’m still drunk with happiness…probably from Nonna’s cake.”

The team they competed against was “some of the most good natured people I have ever met,” Rossella said. She also said that they could not have gotten along better throughout the filming and wishes the viewers could have seen how they borrowed ingredients and pans from each other, and how they toasted with bowls full of wine after an intense long preparation night. “I think we all really felt this immense bond as Italians to just pull through and make the show successful, even if that meant helping each other…By the end of filming, I felt as if I had acquired three new cousins,” Rossella said.

Rossella said “stress was definitely on the menu,” and in this case, she took the position as the team leader so it was her responsibility to make everything come together.

Her restaurant concept

a “Pugliese Masseria.” “Masserie” are fortified farmhouses only found in the region of Italy called Puglia that are now restaurants and resorts.

Rossella added: “I really wanted to bring the authentic flavors of Puglia to my menu and make sure that the space had its own identity that transported you to Italy. It was really important to me that the customers, as well as the judges understood that the entire concept was based on the food being rustic and had the home cooked feel to it. I wanted to make sure everyone felt at home and as if they were eating a meal at Nonna’s house.”

During the competition, the menu had to be cut down, food shopping time was limited, and Rossella had not correctly calculated the portions of all menu items so changes had to be made. Luckily, Rossella’s mother stepped in to guide Rossella in creating a smaller much more executable menu and reminded her that the fewer dishes done very well would be better than many dishes composed mediocrely. “Boy, let me tell you, mamma really does know best!” Rossella said.

Preparing the food was the most challenging part of the competition, because Rossella had never been in a restaurant kitchen or never obtained any professional culinary experience. Rossella added: “I’ll admit, I was a little intimidated, but I decided to make the best of it. Filming a cooking show is a far cry from running a working restaurant kitchen…The fact that my team and I won was just the icing on the cake.” The easiest part of the competition was how the kitchen ran because they were not scrambling to remember each table’s different orders. Rossella’s mother jumped in to help the waitresses run food to tables so no customer had to wait.

After this grand victory, Rossella along with her mother and nonna won $10,000 as “seed money” so they can start their own restaurant. “Everyone my family has ever had over for dinner has asked us why we don’t open a restaurant of our own. Winning this competition not only proved that we have what it takes to do it, but starts us out with some real resources to realize our dream,” Rossella said.

In addition, Rossella thanked Amici Journal and all friends out there for supporting them in the process and sending them so many good wishes. Rossella is planning to re-launch Cooking with Nonna in a big way by taking it to the next level with many new features that she is sure the public will enjoy. I lastly asked Rossella if she will have a TV show on the Food Network. “Will I get a show on the Food Network?... of course I would love to, and after the way I got on the Food Network earlier this year…you never know! Anything is always possible,” Rossella answered.

Bruschetta con Broccoli Rape Ingredients:

• 1 Bunch of fresh broccoli rape • 4 Slices of Italian bread • 4 Slices of smoked mozzarella • 1 Clove of garlic • EV olive oil • Salt & pepper

Directions:

• Toast the Italian bread on the grill or in the oven.

• Saute` the broccoli with olive oil and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste.

• Top toasted Italian bread with broccoli rape.

• Add one slice of smoked mozzarella over the broccoli rape.

• Put the bruschetta in the oven until the mozzarella melts.

• Serve immediately.

Buon Appetito!

Pizza Margherita alla Napoletana Ingredients For Pizza Dough: • 1 Lb - Flour • 1 Oz - Yeast • 1/3 Cup - Olive oil • 1/2 Cup - Warm water • Pinch salt • Pinch pepper

Ingredients For Topping:

• 1 Medium sized fresh mozzarella (Bufala mozzarella if available) • 1 Cup - Marinara sauce • Fresh basil • EV olive oil • Oregano

Dough Preparation:

• Mound the flour in a pile with a hole in the middle.

• Dissolve the yeast in warm water.

• Add all the dough ingredients to the flour.

• Work all the ingredients together until the dough foms into the shape of a ball. Make sure you really work it well.

• Let the dough rest for 2 hours covered with plastic wrap at room temperature.

Pizza Preparation:

• Stretch the dough with a floured rolling pin into a 12”-14” circle.

• Lay the dough flat on either an aluminum baking pan or a pizza stone.

• Add marinara sauce and mozzarella in thin slices.

• Drizzle olive oil and garnish with fresh basil and oregano.

• Bake in the oven at 350F for approximately 10-15 mins. or until crust is golden brown.

Buon Appetito!

Spring 2011 / 27

Interview With

Chef David Catapano

By Andrew Guzaldo

Chef David Catapano is a resident of New York, and the son of David and Norine Catapano. Their ancestors are from, Taranto and Rome Italy. It is for this Chef David leans more towards, his Roman ancestors in hos culinary career. they resided in Long Island City NY. During his youth, they moved around quite a bit, from Queens, NY Long Island, NY and throughout Brooklyn,

In 1996 at the age of 23, Davids career began, prior to that he already had 5 years experience in the culinary industry. Throughout high school his passion continued as he took a state sponsored culinary programs. Then he landed his first job in a Fine dining kitchen At Papa Razzi Trattoria in Glen Cove, NY. Working his way from grill cook, to sauce chef and eventually Sous Chef. David Catapano then moved to Brooklyn NY at the age of 23 and quickly found work at Various Restaurants over the years Cucina La Traviata, Basso 51.

However his career really took off when David Catapano met Vincent Scotto who was the at the time the executive chef of Fresco in Manhattan NY. He studied and learned under Scotto for 3 years. Eventually David left to open his own catering business in Brooklyn, NY “Roman Feasts”.

David is married to his high school sweetheart, Anna they have three beautiful children Lisa, DJ and their newest addition, Romeo Catapano who is 6 months old. David replied “They are my lifetime episode, and driving force in my life, I want to make their lives complete they are the reason I work so hard.”

Davids wife, is always challenging him and wanting something new. It makes him very creative, in his culinary world. However, he always remember what his mentor taught him, the late Chef Vincent Scotto taught him not to over think his dishes, just keep them simple and delicious.

At the end of 2008 Chef David Catapano moved to Las Vegas Nevada. Which is in his own words “Is a food mecca” He enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu Las Vegas to get his associates in Culinary 28/Spring 2011

arts and started website called “The Pompous Palate” (http://ThePompousPalate.com) . The website gained readership quickly and he quickly expanded to offer private chefs and cooking lessons where he could bring his expertise to people in the comfort of their own home. “Chef David and The Pompous Palate has really taken Las Vegas by storm.” said Las Vegas Resident Paula DeJovani “And that is not easy to do.”

He is the founder and owner of “The Pompous Palate” a private chef service, that has some of the most exclusive accounts in Las Vegas. They offer cooking lessons and their website is a mecca of food news.

Chef David utilizes many of his families recipes, he has altered most of them, but the techniques and focus on fresh ingredients is something that was instilled in him ever since he can remember. He still makes his Nonna’s Tomato Sauce to this day, and that is one he hasn’t’t changed, nor does he plan on doing so!

At the moment Chef David, has not written any books. However since he is a blogger, and a food critic of sorts, he has written for many websites, as well as various publications. This will make a future book on the culinary industry, very viable from his experience in the Internet world.

Although he never traveled to Italy, he did however grow up in an Italian neighborhood, which were abundant in Italian immigrants, as well as a number of first and second generation Italian friends. Chef David is a good example to show that one, need not come from the country of their ancestors, for the flame burns within your heart, wether it be the culture, the customs or anyother relative signifcance of that inner bond.

It is in this neighborhood, he was enriched with the Italian culture. Where there was a celebration of a a different Italian Feast every week, as well as an Italian Patron saint from various parts of Italy had pot lucks every week and Festivals. Life was always centered around food. The ex

periences, he crusaded in his youth, certainly strengthened his passion for cooking. “They really taught me to love food, this was the first thing I was ever passionate about, and it never went away I plan on bringing his family in that long awaited, trip to Italy in the upcoming year I always make sure to stop and smell the roses now and again and cherish the moments I get to spend with my family.

When you are doing what you love.

Life is a vacation” With so much work, and a busy schedule his leisure time is enjoying his family, and hitting the road, on a short trip to. In doing so, he clears his mind and it always helps him to come up with a recipe or two is spending time with his family. “I always make sure to stop and smell the roses now and again and cherish the moments I get to spend with my family. When you are doing what you love.

Life is a vacation.”

David doesn’t’t have time for hobbies, however he is a avid poker player and has played since the young age of 7 years old. He also enjoys, computers and the very popular computer game call Fantasy Football. He as many says “ The technology of today is magnificent, and he really believes that it is a big help in today’s economy, you can meet friends, and make new business acquaintances”

Chef David Catapano is an active member of the American Culinary Federation and World Association of Chefs. He always continues his studies and love of food. David told a Local Las Vegas Television reporter “I love to learn about different food, different cultures, it just fascinates my whole being- there is nothing like it.” He has been seen on signaturedish.com, KLAS-TV Las Vegas and has been featured in The Vegas Snoop and filmed a pilot called “The Godfather’s Kitchen” which is still being shopped. His Signature dish is Rain Forest Risotto

Chef David says “I am excited about all the new and loyal readers of www.thepompouspalate.com. I absolutely love the challenges I get each day as a private Chef, I encourage people to challenge me, via secret ingredients, mystery baskets etc. I Love the competitions and thank the American Culinary Federation for creating so many of them. The chef ended this interview with two of his his favorite quotes “We are the music makers, we are the dreamers of a dream.”

Arthur O’Shaughness

“Just follow your dreams, everything else will fall into place, That is true success.”

Chef David Catapano

Spring 2011 / 29

and

Spicy Sriracha Chicken Wings

By Michael Symon

These crispy chicken wings get their heat from Sriracha, the Thai hot sauce that chef Michael Symon says is his favorite in the world. “We always have a couple of extra bottles at home, because my stepson blows right through the stuff.”

Paired with: A crisp lager: Great Lakes Brewing Company Dortmunder Gold

Ingredients (Serve for 10 )

• 10 pounds chicken wings, split • 1/4 cup coriander seeds, crushed • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed • 1 teaspoon cinnamon • 2 tablespoons kosher salt • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil • 3/4 cup Sriracha chile sauce • 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro • Finely grated zest and juice of 3 limes • 3 quarts vegetable oil, for frying

Paired 30/Spring 2011

Directions

In a very large bowl, toss the wings with the coriander and cumin seeds, cinnamon, kosher salt and olive oil.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Spread the wings on 3 large rimmed baking sheets and roast for about 30 minutes, until firm but not cooked through. (At this point, if you don’t want to fry the wings, you can roast them for 1 hour longer, until crispy and golden.) Wash out the bowl. Add the Sriracha, butter, cilantro, lime zest and juice.

In a deep fryer or a very large saucepan, heat the vegetable oil to 375°.

Fry the wings in 4 or 5 batches until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes per batch; drain, shaking off the excess oil. As each batch is finished, add the wings to the sauce and toss well. Transfer the wings to a platter, leaving the sauce in the bowl for the remaining batches. Serve hot.

Chili Shrimp

By Rajat Parr

Rajat Parr discovered Singaporean chili crabs while cooking at a hotel there and exploring the local street food. When crabs aren’t available, he substitutes large shrimp and cooks them in sweet, sticky chile sauce.

Paired with: Off-dry Riesling: 2008 Gunderloch Jean-Baptiste Kabinett

Ingredients (Serve 4)

• 2 pounds large shrimp, preferably head-on • 2 tablespoons ketchup • 2 tablespoons dry sherry • 2 tablespoons Asian sweet chile sauce • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice • 2 tablespoons soy sauce • 1 tablespoon sugar • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil • 2 medium jalapeños, seeded and minced • 2 garlic cloves, minced • 1 stalk of fresh lemongrass, tender inner white bulb only, minced • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger • 4 scallions, thinly sliced • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro • Steamed rice, for serving

Directions

Using scissors, cut down the back shell of each shrimp and remove the dark intestinal vein, leaving the shell intact. In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, sherry, chile sauce, lemon juice, soy sauce and sugar.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Add the deveined shrimp to the skillet and cook over high heat, turning once, until they start to curl and turn pale pink, about 2 minutes.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet with the jalapeños, garlic, lemongrass and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the scallions and the ketchup mixture and stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Stir in the cilantro. Spoon the shrimp onto plates and serve with rice.

Yucatán Pork Stew with Ancho Chiles and Lime Juice

By Tia Harrison

This Mexican-influenced dish gets its earthiness from ancho chiles, a flavor that pairs well with a dark-berried, spicy red wine.

Paired with: An Argentinean Malbec: 2009 Trapiche

Ingredients (Serve 8 )

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil • 4 1/2 pounds trimmed boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch pieces • Salt and freshly ground pepper • 2 large white onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces • 8 garlic cloves, smashed • 1 pound carrots, cut crosswise into 2-inch lengths • 3 ancho chiles, seeded and cut into very thin strips with scissors • 3 bay leaves • Pinch of ground cloves • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice • 6 cups chicken stock • 6 plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro • Steamed white rice and sliced jalapeños, for serving

Directions

In a very large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Season the pork with salt and black pepper and add half of it to the casserole. Cook over moderate heat, turning, until browned all over, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pork to a plate. Brown the remaining pork.

Return all of the pork to the casserole along with any accumulated juices. Stir in the onions, garlic, carrots, chiles, bay leaves, cloves, lime juice and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, nestling them into the liquid. Cover and cook over low heat until the pork is very tender and the carrots are cooked through, about 3 hours. Discard the bay leaves and stir in the cilantro. Serve with rice and sliced jalapeños.

Spicy Pork Po’Boys

By Melissa Jacobson

In Louisiana, a po’boy is a soft baguette filled with either fried seafood or meat. Melissa Rubel makes her po’boys with juicy grilled pork patties, topped with lettuce, tomato and a crunchy-creamy pickle-andshallot mayonnaise.

Pairing: Juicy, blackberry-rich Australian Shiraz: 2008 Morse Code

Ingredients (Serve 4)

• 1 1/2 pounds ground pork • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika • 1 1/4 teaspoons dried thyme • 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper • 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1/2 cup mayonnaise • 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard • 2 medium kosher dill pickles, very finely chopped • 1/2 small shallot, minced • Four 8-inch soft baguettes, split • 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce • 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced • Hot sauce, for serving

Directions

Preheat a grill pan. In a large bowl, using your hands, mix the ground pork with the paprika, thyme, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Form the pork into twelve 1/2-inch-thick patties. Grill the pork patties over moderate heat, turning once, until they are cooked through, about 8 minutes total.

Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise with the Dijon mustard, pickles and shallot and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mayonnaise on both sides of the baguettes.

Place 3 pork patties on the bottom of each baguette and top with the lettuce, tomato and a few splashes of hot sauce. Close the sandwiches and serve.

Spring 2011 / 31

Cutting Health Care Spending Without Cutting Health Coverage

During these tough economic times, as America continues to look at cost cutting options, many people will be shopping for a health insurance plan. It’s important to know that there are health plans that are affordable and are a fit for you and your family while still offering the coverage you need to protect your family.

Know your needs. What types of coverage are most important to you? Do you or a family member take a prescription regularly?

Knowing how much coverage you need is important when deciding which health care plan is best.

Learn the lingo. Some insurers are working to use more consumer-friendly language. Learning how a high-deductible plan tied to a health savings account (HSA) that offers choice among physicians and hospitals and how it works best with your needs, is important.

Availability when you need it most. Many insurers are working hard to ensure customers have health-related information when they need it, such as:

• Use of understandable consumer-friendly language

• Access to customer call centers and nurse hotlines 24/7, 365 days a year, giving constant access to a nurse or person to help solve a claims issue

• Online tools to search for claims information and check for benefit qualifications, co-pays, and deductibles

• Tools to compare prices on the drugs you need, helping find the best prices available. Schedule that yearly appointment.

Regular checkups can help prevent potential problems or catch conditions early, saving money.

Look for “extras.” Many insurers offer discounts for programs such as smoking cessation, weight loss, fitness club memberships and other services already being used by an individual.

Quality matters. Feel confident about choosing the right individual plan for you. Check out report cards for different plans on the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Web site, available at http://reportcard.ncqa.org/plan/external/plansearch.aspx.

For information about individual health products from CIGNA, visit www.cignaforyou.com/hctips.

32/ Spring 2011

Are You at a Greater Risk of Heart Attack?

It’s well known that more men have heart attacks than women, but many men don’t think about their cardiac health until there’s a problem. To further complicate matters, cardiologists can’t diagnose heart disease until the condition is advanced enough to cause high cholesterol or a blockage -- problems that increase the risk of heart attack.

Most heart disease is coronary heart disease, in which arterial plaque build-up narrows blood vessels, lessening the amount of blood and oxygen that reaches the heart. While most men don’t have heart attacks until later in life; the average man gets his first heart attack at age 65, plaque has been found in the hearts of 20-year-olds. That means that arterial plaque can build up for decades before men develop high cholesterol or blockages or experience heart attacks.

There are, however, certain symptoms that indicate coronary heart disease. For example, daytime fatigue and lethargy are common in men with heart disease. If routine activities suddenly become exhausting, or if men find themselves easily winded, they should speak to a doctor.

Likewise, a man’s ability to achieve an erection can serve as a barometer of overall health, with dysfunction often acting as a precursor for other existing or potential health issues. In a study of 1,500 men, which was published in “Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association,” found that men with both erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular disease were twice as likely to have a heart attack than men with cardiovascular disease, but no. One can ask what is the connection? The male organ contains arteries like the ones in the heart, only much smaller in scale, so it takes less arterial plaque to create a blockage. Then, the body can function as an early warning sign -- men may still have time before the arterial plaque in the heart builds up enough to cause a serious blockage or heart attack. Because one may be linked to heart disease, men should consult a specialist before trying over-the-counter treatments.

Doctors who specifically deal with sexual dysfunction issues, such as physicians with Boston Medical Group (www.bostonmedicalgroup.com), can identify underlying issues, such as heart disease, that may be causing this result. Angina usually occurs with exercise, during times of emotional stress or after eating, when the heart demands more oxygen than clogged blood vessels can provide. The most common cause of angina is coronary heart disease. Chest pain may radiate to other areas of the body, such as the jaw, arms or back. Patients may also sweat, feel weak, nauseated or fatigued, or develop shortness of breath.

Men experiencing a squeezing pain or pressure in the chest, or angina, should see a doctor for a cardiac exam.

Are You Putting Facebook Over Face Time?

By Dr. Matthew B. James

Today’s technology allows us to stay in touch with extended networks of people -; but it comes with a downside. The more time we spend surfing the Web, tweeting or updating Face book, the less time we spend with those closest to us.

Among the thousands of people I’ve taught, I often hear people complain they have a hard time connecting with their spouses and kids.

Yet, I’ll bet many of them are well connected in Internet chat groups.

It is important to recognize whether technology is keeping you away from your family and friends. If you really have a problem regulating your use of technology, it helps to understand why you might turn to technology for fulfillment.

Do you feel like you are automatically turning on whatever electronic medium soothes you? This may be a sign that you have succumbed to what is known as the “iago trance” - a naturally occurring state of mind that lulls you into unconsciousness.

Huna, the ancient Hawaiian system of consciousness that I teach and practice, gives us tools to stay connected with the moment and the world around us. If technology is interfering with your real-world relationships, cut out screen time and do activities that keep you out of the trance. Here are some tips:

• Ask yourself whether technology is stopping you from meeting goals. At the end of the day, do you say, “I wish I had more time to work out, meditate, play with my kids or connect with my spouse”?

• Make a list of things that prevent you from being connected to your friends, family and loved ones, and pick one that you’re going to cut out.

• If a particular technology has you hooked, try cutting it out for a week to see what difference it makes in your life. Ask yourself whether you’re using it the way you originally intended, or is it keeping you in iago trance?

• Lay down boundaries for yourself and your family. For instance, try keeping your Facebook page very private and not just “friending” anyone.

• Find other “unplugged” ways to reduce stress, such as spending a few minutes outdoors in the fresh air or quietly in meditation or prayer.

I’d rather tell my wife good morning than tell the people on Face book I just woke up. How about you?

Include Recovery Time In Your Exercise Plan

When you think about getting in shape, you might flash back to ‘80s movie montages of jogging up stairs, hitting punching bags and practicing martial arts moves. But if the movies had it right, they’d also show the hero kicking back with a glass of chocolate milk -- when it comes to getting in shape or improving performance, recovery time is just as important as working out. Exercise creates micro-tears in muscle fibers. The body repairs those muscles, making them stronger than they were before the workout. But muscle repair takes time. If you exercise before your muscles recover, you increase the damage. Over a period of time, you’ll actually sabotage your performance by repeatedly breaking down muscle without giving it a chance to rebuild.

The faster your body can recover after exercise, the stronger you’ll get, because you’ll be able to exercise at a higher level more frequently. Here are some tips for improving muscle recovery for better performance:

• Fuel your muscles. Muscle recovery starts right after a work out, so you should give your body the nutrients it needs to rebuild muscle

as soon as possible. Drink water and electrolytes immediately after exercise. Exercise uses up muscles’ glycogen energy stores, so replenish them with simple carbohydrates. Make sure to eat protein within two hours after working out. In one study, those who drank chocolate milk after exercise recovered more quickly than those who drank a sports beverage, probably due to milk’s balance of minerals, carbohydrates and protein.

• Increase circulation; the more blood going to your legs, the better. Stretching and massage can help your muscles release toxins. You may also want to try a pain-relieving liquid, such as a natural herbal formula provides temporary relief from muscle aches by improving circulation and reducing pain, so you can speed up your recovery time and get back to your sport.

• Rest. Getting a full eight hours of sleep will help your body recover. On a similar note, give your body time to rebuild between workouts. Most athletes include one or two recovery days in their training programs, when they will either not exercise or will perform a low-intensity activity, such as walking.

USA News

Spring 2011 / 33

Famiglia - Family English to Italian

By Andrew Guzaldo

1

2

3

4

5

6

7 8

9

10

11 12

13

Across:

14 15

2. Mother 3. Father 7. Aunt 8. Son 11. Husband 14. Grandmother 15. Wife 16. Win

Down:

16

1. Seven 3. Dad 4. Inside 5. Brother 6. Cousin 9. Evil 10. Uncles 12. Baby 13. Daughter 14. Grandparents

Cassandra’s Crossing A

Entwined with Fate

s the world turns, every vibration moves through my veins with energy so electric and captivating. Tender chills of all past emotions try to hibernate as blood clots. With gentle pulses pumping through my blood the soothing sounds to the inner core of my precious heart. The waves of positive energy have removed those pieces of chills, utilizing an intensity of power that illuminates the soul. The mechanism of the structure of my very being is ignited from visuals from all of my dreams. Imploded with a strength to succeed I summon the empress that lay within me. Awaiting, the reverberations of my thoughts that hold the key to the wisdom and knowledge that guides me.

Reborn through calibrations from a light that radiates in beams spawned from love. Impelled to live life with harmony that is joyous through the renewal of my character. This is the universal creation that I persevere to accomplish within all of my hearts desires. Yielded with a determination that is as pulsating as ecstasy fulfilling all of my dreams in combination of synergy.

This is the outcome I long for having captured every experience as an imprint. Silent in solace at times the trilogies of those from my past beacon for my return. Echoes of the progress that have been made fill empowerment through my journeys path. Through vibrations engaging a lock on that which intrigues me, the dark amidst the clouds elusively tampers with the chemistry of our past connections. Instinctively clustered close, following every whisper of the positive guides for an entrance into the center of my heart. The golden doors surrounding the heart repelled with the armor of the Almighty. It is then that the dark stray away blinded by the rays of light in its reflection. Lifted with my soul do I gaze high above the clouds through stares at the brightness of the twinkling of the stars. Rejuvenated like the filters of the ocean, igniting like the fire in the sky, strong like the roots of a tree, stealth like the wings of a bird. My soul is electrified captivating the vibrations of positive energy that is carried by my thoughts and emotions.

34/ Spring 2011

By Cassandra J. Gambino

House

alls

Up-to-the Minute Medical Discoveries, Treatments, and Cures That Can Save Your Life

Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld has had a long lasting relationship in the Italian American community.

He has been honored, by the Foreign Minister of Italy, who conferred these honors to the Doctor as “Commendatore and Grand Uficiale della Republica Italian” Here’s What’s New

Representatives of the American College of PhysiciansAmerican Society of Internal Medicine, a group that represents more No Aspirin for Kids under Age 16 than 100,000 doctors, have concluded that cough syrups are usually

For years, doctors in the United States have been warn- a waste of money. There’s apparently little or no evidence that the ing parents not to give their children aspirin. The reason is a rare expectorants they contain provide any benefit for upper- or lower-redisorder called Reye’s syndrome, which for some unknown rea- spiratory tract infections (despite the manufacturers’ insistence to the son can develop in children (and occasionally in adults) who have contrary). If you need to loosen mucus, the best way to do it probably taken aspirin to relieve symptoms of a recent viral infection, such is to drink more fluids. as the flu, the common cold, or chickenpox. Although Reye’s What about something to stop the cough? Most suppressyndrome occurs only in one in a million cases, when it does sants contain codeine or one of its derivatives, and they do stop a dry, strike, it can be fatal. It attacks the brain and liver, and unless it irritating cough. The downside is their side effects, such as constipais diagnosed early on, it causes death within a few days. There tion and drowsiness. If your cough is loose, it’s not a good idea to is no cure for Reye’s. Treatment typically involves reducing the suppress it, because the cough is nature’s way of getting rid of the elevated pressure the disease causes in the brain. phlegm.

Here’s What’s New The Bottom Line

Since 1986, the United Kingdom has reduced the inci- There is some disagreement about these recommendadence of Reye’s by banning the use of aspirin for anyone younger tions. Expectorants probably don’t do much good, although everythan age 12. The U.K.’s Medicines Control Agency has now ex- one agrees that they can do no harm. As for suppressants, I think that panded the limit to age 16 because of the Reye’s-related death of if a dry, hacking cough is interfering with your sleep, you should take a 13-year-old who is thought to have taken aspirin. cough syrup. However, if the cough is already loose, a suppressant The Bottom Line will prevent you from getting rid of mucus in your respiratory tract.

Do not give aspirin to any child younger than age 16. Use First try the other time-honored alternatives, such as hot beverages Tylenol (acetaminophen) instead. and chicken soup, and keep the cough syrup handy just in case. If What the Doctor Ordered? you weaken and do take a couple of teaspoons, don’t worry about it.

Should you bother taking cough medicine?

Just make sure you have a laxative handy and be prepared for a little

The two medications most people ask for when they have drowsiness. a cold or the flu are antibiotics and cough medicine. Doctors now Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld’s legions of fans follow his regular know better than to give you antibiotics at the drop of a hat like column in Parade magazine and his popular Sunday-morning televithey once did. That’s because most upper-respiratory infections sion series Sunday Housecall on FOX News Channel. In addition are due to a virus against which antibiotics are useless. Taking to his numerous scientific publications and medical textbooks for them only increases your likelihood of developing antibiotic re- doctors, he has written nine New York Times bestsellers, including sistance, and then when you really need them in the future, they Breakthrough Health 2004: 167 Up-to-the Minute Medical Discovermay not work. ies, Treatments, and Cures That Can Save Your Life, from America’s

Cough medicines are another matter. They usually con- Most Trusted Doctor! He is a distinguished member of the faculty at tain two kinds of ingredients, one to loosen respiratory congestion New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Medical College of Cornell (an expectorant) and the other to suppress the cough. Surely there University and attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospiisn’t any harm in this -- or is there? tal and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld

All books available

at

Amazon.com

Trash Problem in Naples returning to normality

Beautiful

Naples is finally returning to normality after months of toiling with a huge trash crisis, but the Italian government was holding a meeting with local officials Tuesday to find lasting solutions to a problem that persists in the surrounding area.

The southern city has largely been cleared of rubbish piles after the military were sent in to lend a hand during the Christmas holidays and other regions agreed to take some of it to ease the emergency. But thousands of tonnes of refuse still lie uncollected on streets in the province of Naples and the situation is especially bad in the towns of Melito, Casalnuovo, Giugliano, Pozzuoli and Quarto. Cabinet Undersecretary Gianni Letta was due to meet Naples Mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino and other local representatives to establish the way forward.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who won kudos inside and outside Italy for resolving a similar crisis shortly after coming to power in 2008, has blamed local authorities for the crisis running on 36/Spring 2011

for so long. He has said the local councils have not kept commitments to open new landfill sites and construct new incinerators. .

The authorities are facing stronger hostility to dumps many believe are toxic than they did two years ago in the Naples area, which has had waste-disposal problems for many years.Plans to open some new dumps in the area have been shelved after violent clashes with local residents.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, however, said he was optimistic after meeting Iervolino and Campania governor Stefano Caldoro and speaking on the telephone to Province of Naples President Luigi Cesaro on Monday. ‘’These three institutions have reached common positions on managing the refuse emergency and strategies to put the rubbish processing system up to speed,’’ Napolitano said Tuesday. ‘’It seems to me that there’s a highly constructive climate that gives us grounds to be hopeful’’. A European Commission delegation scolded Italy after a visit to Naples in November, saying the situation did not appear to have improved compared to two years ago and that plans for rubbish processing and recycling were inadequate.

Operation Harvest Moon Part 1 of 3

On 9 Dec 1965, at approximately 1300 hours LIMA Company 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, was the lead Company, a spearhead, sent into the Que Son Valley to rescue the 5th ARVN Regiment who had been under heavy attack since daybreak.

It was Tuesday, December 8th 1965, Lima Company had just been pulled from MAG 16 perimeter duty for what we thought was going to be a couple of days of R&R. We were in the rear area (Battalion HQ) somewhere on DaNang Air Base.

Our Company area was temporary, with no permanent structures, The Battalion was in transit from Chu Lai to Hill 55 outside of DaNang. Each Platoon had its own area where we pitched our two men, pup tents.

I can only remember using the pup tents here and earlier at Chu Lai, and for a very short time in both locations. Most of the time we were either on the move or just preferred to use our ponchos for shelter halves.

We built some very interesting hooch’s with those ponchos, and the more ponchos we had, the bigger and better the hooch.

It was around 10am. Jim Stead and I were in our tent playing Chess on one of those magnetic chess boards we got from the Red Cross, all of a sudden, our Plt Sgt (whose name escapes me) informed us that we were going to have church services and everyone must attend. Ordering everyone to church service was not uncommon, every good platoon leader wanted to have a good showing for the Chaplin, who almost always out ranked the Plt leaders.

We were told that the Protestants would be holding services first, then Jewish services and finally, Catholic Mass.

At about 1100, 11am. for you civilians, the order came for the Protestants to “fall out for church and don’t keep the Padres waiting”.

Well, I am Protestant, but, I was also in the process of beating the jungle boots off old Jim Stead for the first time since Chu Lai, almost a month earlier, so I decided not to attend church services.

Maybe 30 minutes later there was a call for all the Jewish troops to fall out for services. I was still in the process of out maneuvering Stead on the Chess Board some 30 minutes later when the Plt Sgt. came back through our area to round up all the Catholics.

I was trying to be inconspicuous, I’m a little guy and seldom had problems finding cover, but my Sgt nailed me. I even tried to show him my dog tags which clearly indicated that I was Methodist, but he didn’t want any excuses, stating that “if I didn’t fall out when he called for the Protestants and I didn’t fall out when he called for the Jews, I therefore must be Catholic” Typical lifer reasoning!

For all he knew I could have been Buddhist? But to please my SGT, I went to Catholic Mass and I actually took Communion (that’s the Corps, you do what you’re told, and when you’re told to do it!) no questions just action.

I didn’t think about this much at the time, but unless you actually are Catholic, holding church services on a Tuesday is highly suspicious, especially in a combat zone !

Wednesday morning, December 9, 65 at 0500 - 5am. We mounted up, loaded onto 6X’s (big trucks to you non combatants) and headed south to a point where most of us had no earthly clue where we were. They

never told us peons anything, a hell of a way to run a war don’t you think?

If I were in charge, I’d want every Swinging Dick to know exactly where we were going to go and what we were supposed to do when we got there.

But back in the 60’s we were still governed by a WWII mentality (the less the troops know the better).

It seems that we were near Tam Key, that’s what all the official documents suggest, Tam Ky was the staging area later on in the Operation, but we were on the Beach, in the sand, watching the waves roll in and fighting off the Piss Ants that were crawling up our pant legs!

I suspect that our staging area was somewhere a little north and east of Tam Key, near Thang Binh. We arrived at the staging area shortly after sun up and sat there all day till around 1300, when a large number of choppers came into our LZ.

We were again told very little, just enough to scare the shit out of junk yard dog! We were told that all the waiting was due to the fact that B52’s had spent the morning bombing several VC regiments that were assembling in the Que Son Valley, and that we were going in to rescue fragments of an ARVN Regiment (South Vietnamese Troops) that were in serious trouble.

(For the record, a regiment consists of approximately 2100 troops, 3 reinforced Battalions) Our Recon had estimated that there were 3,500 plus VC’s held up on a nice little defendable map grid called hill 43. We initially went in with one company, Lima Company, with approximately 180 troops.

So, at 1330 hours (1:30pm for all you civilians) Lima Company, along with it’s FO (Forward observer 1st Lt Jack Swallows) and his team along with a small H&S (Headquarters & Supply) contingency, mounted up on Choppers and flew west for approximately 30 minutes.

We landed just south of the village of Bong Son II, near the eastern mouth of the Que Son valley. The LZ was not hot, there were no problems landing or disembarking. From the LZ, we spread out into a Company wide sweep, moving toward the highlands and Hill 43.

I will state for the record that we never made contact with the ARVN unit that we were suppose to be rescuing, although the documents suggest we did. It may have been the next morning, but the ARVN’s were pretty scattered on 9 Dec 65.

I was an 0351 Assaultman (3.5 Rockets) attached to 3rd platoon. 3rd platoon was on the right flank of Lima Company as we were sweeping through the rice fields in the valley, I was on the extreme right flank of 3rd platoon.

Shortly after we began the sweep, I noticed a couple of fellows in black pajamas, following us, about 200 yards out. As we would stop, they would stop, as we picked up the pace, they would speed up their pace.

It quickly became clear to me that they were following us.

I immediately informed my platoon Sgt that we were being observed, but he chose to ignore the heads up. Ten minutes later I observed several more, maybe 15 to 20, and this time I clearly saw weapons. I again reported the sighting to the Plt Sgt, and this time he took a look-see and promptly notified the Lt.

I understand the necessity for following orders, but there was a clear and present danger on our flank and the Lt. chose to ignore it and follow his orders. American lives were in danger, we had a clear target and I’ll never understand why we didn’t attack them. hell, I could have taken out most of them with one well placed rocket round.

Spring 2011 / 37

ACT TODAY FOR MILITARY FAMILIES American military families give so much...it’s our turn to give back!

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Military families impacted by autism face even more extraordinary circumstances, and access to effective autism services is limited. With your donation, we can make a difference in the life of a military child today and provide hope for a better tomorrow!

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38/Spring 2011

ACT Today!

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Top

eight wines, for your dining pleasure

Two Swiss economists that have studied wine proces, for over a decade have come to the fascinating conclusion that wines make safer investment than buying into a large index fund.

2006 Hugel & Fils Riesling

The Hugel family—which has been producing white wine since the 1600s— buys grapes from dozens of vineyard sites around its hometown of Riquewihr, in France’s Alsace region, for this bracing, lime-scented, dry Riesling.

Choucroute Garnie

2006 Joseph Drouhin Domaine de Vaudon Chablis

Sourced from a single vineyard located between two premier cru Chablis appellations, this elegant white balances notes of flint and green apple against racy acidity.

Paired with Scallop potato, and celery root puree in lemon butter sauce

2006 Vincent Pouilly-Fuisse Marie-Antoinette

The stony soils of France’s Pouilly-Fuissé region give this racy, citrus-inflected Chardonnay firm acidity and clean mineral notes. Vincent has been one of the region’s top producers since the company was founded in 1864.

Paired with Roasted Chicken with Tarragon Jus

2007 Domaine des Aubuisieres Cuvee de Silex Vouvray

From his limestone cellars in France’s Loire Valley, Bernard Fouquet makes many good wines, including this barely off-dry cuvee—full-bodied, silky and earthy, with notes of pear, orange, hay and stone.

Paired with Lobster or fish

2005 Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grezeaux

Baudry is among the best producers in France’s Chinon region, producing wines like this earthy-herbal Cabernet Franc, full of peppercorn spiciness and tart cherry-berry fruit.

Paired with Creamy, pasta with fresh goat cheese

2005 Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva

The flavor of this red suggests the juicy pop of wild berries, with smoky oak and firm tannins supporting the ripe fruit. Monsanto, one of the most recognizable names in Italy’s Chianti Classico region, was one of the first producers there to fight against the requirement that white grapes be included in the Chianti blend—a battle that it won, much to the benefit of wine drinkers everywhere.

Paired with Rigatoni, side sausage and tomato sauce

2004 Tinto Pesquera Crianza Ribera Del Duero

This bottling, one of the benchmark wines of this region, is rich and has dense, earthy flavor. Some of Spain’s most exciting wines these days are being made in the Ribera del Duero region from Tempranillo (known locally as Tinto del Pais); the 2004 vintage is particularly outstanding.

Paired with Pistachio crusted rack of Lamb

2004 Beringer Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Beringer’s top Cabernet bottling is luscious and full of concentrated flavor. The 2004 vintage was challenging in parts of California, but in Napa it produced some terrific Cabernets, with big flavors but strong tannins that will need time to soften.

Paired with Roasted lamb, based with mint presto

Spring 2011 / 39

2010 - 2011 national italian restaurant guide Email us for info on

CHICAGO AND SUBURBS, IL Agostino’s Ristorante

Stars Restaurant Review Rating!

Via Carducci

2817 N Harlem Ave, Chicago, IL agostinogustofino.com (773) 745-6464

1419 W. Fullerton Chicago, IL 60614 773-665-1981

Amalfi Ristorante

4747 N. Harlem Ave. Chicago, IL 60634 Phone: (708) 867-7770

298 Glen Ellyn Rd. Bloomingdale, IL 630-893-9222

Capri Ristorante Italiano, Inc. 1238 W. Ogden Ave. Naperville, IL 60563 Phone: (630) 778-7373

Custom House

500 S. Dearborn St. Chicago, IL 60605 Phone: (312) 523-0200

Gioacchino’s Ristorante & Pizzeria 5201 St. Charles Rd. Bellwood, IL 60104 Phone: (708) 544-0380

La Piazza

410 Circle Ave., Forest Park, IL Phone: (708) 366-4010 www.piazzacafe.com

Osteria via Stato

620 N. State St. Chicago, IL 60610 Phone: (312) 642-8450

Porretta Ristorante & Pizzeria 3656 N Central Ave Chicago, IL 60641 Phone: 773-736-1429

Ristorante Al Teatro 1227 W. 18th Street Chicago, IL 60608 (312) 784-9100

Spacca Napoli Pizzeria 1769 W. Sunnyside Ave. Chicago, IL 60640 Phone: (773) 878-2420

Venuti’s Ristorante & Banquets 2251 W. Lake St. Addison, IL 60101 Phone: (630) 376-1500

Vince’s Italian Restaurant

Cafe Zalute & Bar

9501 W. Devon Rosemont, Il Phone: (847) 685-0206

BOSTON, MA Bacco Ristorante & Bar 107 Salem St. Boston, MA 02113 Phone: (617) 624-0454

Fiorella’s

187 North St. Newton, MA 02460 Phone: (617) 969-9990

Sorento’s Italian Gourmet 86 Peterborough St. Boston, Ma, 02215 Phone: (617) 424-7070

MILWAUKEE, WI Alioto’s

3041 N. Mayfair Rd. Milwaukee, WI 53222 Phone: (414) 476-6900

Buca di Beppo

1233 N. Van Buren St. Milwaukee, WI 53202 Phone: (414) 224-8672

Carini’s La Conca D’oro 3468 N. Oakland Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53211 Phone: (414) 963-9623

Locanda Verde

377 Greenwich St (corner of N.Moore and Greenwich) New York, NY 10013 Phone: (212) 925-3797

John Mineo’s Italian

2450 Broadway New York, NY 10024 Phone: (212) 362-2200

Massimo al Ponte Vecchio

206 Thompson St. New York, NY 10012 Phone: (212) 228-7701

PHILADELPHIA, PA Dante & Luigi’s

762 S. 10th St. Philadelphia, PA 19147 Phone: (215) 922-9501

Dolce`

241 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19106 Phone: (215) 238-9983

Mama Yolanda’s Italian Restaurant

746 S. 8TH St. Philadelphia, PA 19147 Phone: (215) 592-0195

Mio Sogno Italian Restaurant

2650 S. 15TH St. Philadelphia, PA 19145 Phone: (215) 467-3317

Kuleto’s

492 Bayfront Pl. Naples, FL 34102 Phone: (239) 430-7020 336 9TH St. N Naples, FL 34102 Phone: (239) 643-2030

ST. LOUIS, MO

Carmine’s

Trattoria Milano Italian

Bellagio of Naples

198 2nd St. San Francisco, CA 94105 Phone: (415) 546-6985

Favazza’s

18 Mills St. Port Chester, NY 10573 Phone: (914) 939-3111

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

336 Tamiami Trail N Naples, FL 34102 Phone: (239) 645-2030

Ristorante Umbria

Tarry Lodge

NAPLES, FL

Trattoria Milano Italian 40/Spring 2011

NEW YORK, NY

221 Powell St. San Francisco, CA 94102 Phone: (415) 397-7720

Mescolanza

5201 Southwest Ave. St. Louis, MO 63139 Phone: (314) 772-4454

13490 Clayton Rd. St. Louis, MO 63131 Phone: (314) 434-5244

Modesto Tapas Bar & Restaurant 5257 Shaw Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110 Phone: (314) 772-8272

Tony’s Restaurant

410 Market St. St. Louis, MO 63102 Phone: (314) 231-7007

Concetta’s Italian Restaurant

600 S. 5th St. St. Charles, MO 63301 Phone: (636) 946-2468

Ricardo’s Italian Cafe 1931 Park Ave. St. Louis, MO 63104 Phone: (314) 421-4833

Carrabba’s Italian Grill

10923 Olive Blvd.

Creve Coeur, MO 63141 Phone: (314) 872-3241

The Old Spaghetti Factory

727 N. First St. St. Louis, MO 63102 Phone: (314) 621-0276

MILAN, ITALY Al Dollaro

Via Paolo Cannobio, 11

2221 Clement St. San Francisco, CA 94121 Phone: (415) 668-2221

Galleria Cafe

Puccini & Pinetti

Ristorante Pizzeria Dogana

129 Ellis St. San Francisco, CA 94102 Phone: (415) 392-5500

Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, 75

Via Dogana, 3 Phone & Fax: 02 8056766

Leonardo DiCaprio Impressing, DeNiro Leonardo also tried to impress Robert De Niro by being menacing”. The Inception actor struggled to know how to make a lasting impression on the legendary actor when he was auditioning for him at the age of 16 before settling on the idea of seeming threatening.“I was 13 years old when I first saw De Niro onscreen,” Leo said. “My dad had taken me to see Midnight Run at the movies. And just before the film started, he pointed to the screen and said, ‘You want to watch a great actor? Now that guy is cool!’

“Three years later I was auditioning for This Boy’s Life, my first film role, and I knew he’d already been cast. So I watched as many as De Niro’s movies as I could beforehand. And I asked myself over and over again, “what is the one quality that De Niro would see in me that he would respect? And then it came to me, menace.”

Discussing his enjoyment of working with director Martin Scorsese — with whom he has collaborated with on four films — Leonardo admits it is because his movies are like “art”.

“Working with people like Scorsese and watching classic old films that are really pieces of art, I want to make sure that if I’m going to invest my time and energy into something and give myself to it, I want it to be something that last. I want it to be special and original,” he said.

Robert De Niro insists he’s nothing like his Little Fockers character!

The actor — who has four children from his various relationships — says his parenting style doesn’t mimic that of former CIA man Jack Byrnes.

“I’m less stern about those things but I’m still watchful – just making sure that everything is okay,” he said.

De Niro recently revealed he’s the model of reason when it comes to being a dad.

“I try not to be too strict with my younger kids because certain things they have to do,” he said.

“But at the same time I don’t want them to get away with anything.

“But I think I try to rationalize with them, and argue — ‘Now look, I’m very good with you about certain things. You have to now do this. That’s only fair’.“Of course, there are times when that stuff doesn’t work. I’m not the all-knowing, all-seeing… But I think in general it works pretty

CELEBRITY NEWS

CELEBRITY NEWS

Leonardo DiCaprio organizes a holiday to Hawaii with his celebrity friends every January.The 36-year-old actor was joined on this year’s trip by girlfriend Bar Rafaeli, supermodel Naomi Campbell, actress Cameron Diaz and her boyfriend Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez, with the group enjoying activities such as surfing, snorkeling and paddle-boarding.

“For the past five years, Leo and his best friend Lukas Haas have gone on a trip every January to stay at the Four Seasons in Maui or The Kahala resort in Honolulu,” a source said.

“They always invite some glam friends along. In the past, invitees have included Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen.

“This year, Cameron, who’s been good chums with Leo since they starred in Gangs of New York, tagged along with A-Rod, Tobey Maguire, Naomi and her man Vladimir Doronin. Leo got to know Naomi last summer after sailing round Sardinia on a boat.”

In the evenings, the group liked to spend their time gambling, before seeing off the excesses of the night before with some leisurely pursuits.

“Leo loves poker, so in the evenings they’d get a high-stakes game going,” said the mole.They all love water sports and play beach volleyball when their hangovers wear off.”

good.” De Niro isn’t strict with his kids.

The Oscar-winning star — who has several children with several different women — insists he’s he model of reason when it comes to being a dad.

“I try not to be too strict with my younger kids because certain things they have to do,” he said. “But at the same time I don’t want them to get away with anything.

“But I think I try to rationalize with them, and argue — ‘Now look, I’m very good with you about certain things. You have to now do this. That’s only fair’.“Of course, there are times when that stuff doesn’t work. I’m not the allknowing, all-seeing… But I think in general it works pretty good.”De Niro, 66, recently revealed that he has an iPhone — but doesn’t use Twitter.“I don’t Twitter,” he said. “Somebody told me about it. I didn’t know what it was.

“I only know how to use a computer. I don’t even know how good I am at it. I slowly use the little things and get emails and I look at videos on the computer and I use an iPhone. I guess I use it adequately.”

Eva Longoria’s Las Vegas restaurant has filed for bankruptcy.

The Desperate Housewives star owns a 32 percent stake in eatery Beso — which has an attached nightclub Eve — and is also listed in the court filing as a creditor owed $375,000 for legal fees paid and another $1 million for a cash loan.

Although Beso made a gross profit of $14.6 million over the past year, records filed at the US Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas show it was losing up to $76,000 a month and owes $1.8 million to landlords Crystals.

The bankruptcy filing is designed to protect $2.5 million in assets and will help the company Beso LLC restructure $5.7 million in debt and other liabilities.This is not the first time Eva — who split from husband Tony Parker in November — has had trouble with the restaurant.

In June last year, the 35-year-old actress was sued for breach of contract by the former managers Ronan and Mali Nachum alleging they had been forced out of their jobs by “scare tactics”.

As well as accusing them of stealing cash, the pair were also said to have assaulted a server and punched a female patron in a document sent out by Eva and other part-owners including Jonas Lowrance.

However Eva countersued to “protect the integrity of the restaurant”.

“All allegations against Longoria Parker and the restaurant are absolutely false, untrue, and without merit,” her rep said. “Longoria Parker plans to countersue the couple in a court of law in order to protect the integrity of the restaurant, its brand and the welfare and well-being of her employees, as well as her own reputation.

“Eva Longoria Parker is a well-respected businesswoman who is nothing short of honorable in all endeavours that she embarks upon, whether they are political, philanthropic, or in any professional business capacity.”

As well as the Las Vegas eatery, the actress also owns a stake in Beso Los Angeles

Spring 2011/41

ARE WE LOSING THE ART OF EYE TO EYE CONVERSATION IN THIS NEW, HIGH TECH, MILLENNIUM? THIS WRITER THINKS SO

Judging by the many high tech phones and computers now

in service, I fear that we are becoming recorded message centers and that eye-to-eye contact during communication is slowly becoming a thing of the past. As an irrepressible traditionalist, I worry that we will become a nation less verbal and more visual. I hope I’m wrong because I value the orally told story with family and friends listening in rapt attention. Technology is great, but it’s not a substitute for the ingredients of human gestures, the sound of laughter, the feeling of a hug, and that quality of love pored into a generational story.

Like most of us, I’ve had plenty of time to say good-bye to the passing year - indeed the passing century! We say good-bye to a year full of war worries, foreclosures, bad debts and political up evils. We brace ourselves now for whatever lies ahead. Will the ex governor of Alaska, and current reality star, Sarah Palin somehow find herself in the political arena for a run at the presidency? Will the plans hopes and political creativity of our President Obama come to a good and beneficial fruition?

In this unfolding millennium will we find new countries to concern us with world peace, will there continue to be old dictators to take down and new ones to put up? My head spins at the thought of what is to be.

In the words of President Obama, “None of the challenges we face lend themselves to simple solutions”.

But whatever lies ahead we are all taking this journey together,”You can’t stop change”, we hear that phrase often enough. I guess if we hear it in repetition often enough it will somehow lessen the shock of the new, high tech, world we live in. I suppose I feel this way because I was born into a generation connected to the past. My grandparents, like many of America’s ancestors, came to this country during the great immigration.

Like millions of Italian immigrants, they came in search of freedom and a new way of life for their families.

Grandma spared no adjectives each time she described the crowded ships that brought them to America Like most of my generation, I’ve always felt a connection to our immigrant ancestors and their profound story.

As an Italian American kid who grew up in the 1940s, I sometimes wonder whether I’m getting too old and set in my ways to embrace the oncoming changes that await me.

I wonder if I shouldn’t just collect my memories and relish them, instead of forging ahead in search of new ones. But, inevitably, I remember my grandparents’ and great grandparents’ courage and how they made that brave voyage from Italy to America.

42/Spring 2011

And I remember my grandpa as he worked in his prolific vegetable garden observing the young bean sprouts as they popped up through the soil, the way he pointed out the young seedlings that were destined to grow and the ones that would die.

In Italian, he would say to me: “That which does not change and grow dies.”

Change and growth uplifts us and generates life. So it is with this thought that I anticipate the coming years ahead. However, there is a part of me that approaches the coming of a modern mechanized world with mixed feelings.

My instinct tells me to be cautious in the face of change, especially when it threatens my established traditions.

I’ve already said good-bye to some of my favorite sights and sounds from the passing century, such as the gentle sound of icy milk bottles clinking together in the early morning hours as the milkman made his rounds; the mysterious mechanics of a colorful Wurlitzer jukebox as it played my selected records (remember those shiny, black vinyl disks with holes in the center?) the smell of coffee percolating in an aluminum coffee pot on a gas stove; the noisy, but familiar click, click, click of our old TV channel tuner, before remote control and viewers had to get off their big fat sofas to change the channel; the actual “brrrinnng”of telephone bells before the cell phone was invented; and the aroma of yard leaves burning in smoldering bunches, before we became concerned with the ozone layer and ecology.

I worry, as Grandma did, that we may be loosing too much of our past too soon. With the advent of microwave cookery, we’ve already lost some of the enticing kitchen aromas associated with the dinner ritual. Food is prepared quickly and devoid of aroma inside a microwave oven, so there are no mouthwatering flavors simmering on the stove to wet our appetites and few kitchens are still warmed by the whistle of an old-fashioned teakettle.

But, as I’ve learned from generations past, there’s no holding on to things or to people and sometimes we have to let go in order to go on. Each day replaces the one before it and so on.

Hopefully, the closer I come to understanding all of this, the more I’ll be able to accept the changing world of the 21st century. Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits. I hope that will not be America’s fate I think Hal Borland said it best, “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us Ready or not here comes the new year!!Happy New Year to all and to all good luck!

Italian Stylist of Haute Couture By: Andrew Guzaldo Federica Fanti was born, in the town of Syracuse, Sicily August 1984. As a child she showed a strong interest in the entire world of aesthetics of nature beauty, art, and with creation and appreciation of beauty. She is a refined person, which represents the world in the Fashion design and the luxury that a female enjoys when it comes to well being of female beauty. She has easily brought her thoughts of such designs, with a simple pencil and paper in her sketches.

Ideas that one-day would become a reality for her and her family. After her diploma, from the Mediterranean college of M.Ferrera she achieved her Master degree in Designer of Fashion, participating during the years of study to numerous stage and events.

In 2007 she participated in the Medin Medi with one of her first collections of Deva, and there preceded with significant success, and notoriety in the fashion industry, most recently Federica received an award from Frank Florio fashion designs.

She was acclaimed so successful that she was invited to Paris to introduce her fashion designs. Since then she was invited to numerous countries to show her unique and fashionable designs to the World.

She has received outstanding journalistic reviews, which unanimously acclaim her designs stunning, and intriguing to say the least. She has also participated in other events at the Fashion and Flowers of Ragusa, competed National of Young Trust Foundation, together with Cammalleri and Caltanissetta Group She is also preparing for near future events in Milan Italy she sells Fashion and again for a new show preparing in Paris.

Various stylists as Carlo Chionna manufacturing in the circle of the Fashion and Buyer, they have been enthusiastic of his/her as fancy to contact her/it for various proposals of collaboration of style and commerce Young very reserved girl but with a position fervent inventiveness, a lot of aesthete both for the choice of the fabrics and for the realizations of his/her works, only in his/her kind Some of Federica’s experience has derived from the fashionable agency in study with Ferrera 2005/2006.

Participation in the Madein Medi “ week of the Siciliana” Fashion, where she introduced her first collection 2007 Vincitrice of the Competition of the review Zoe Magazine and paraded participation of Paris, Wefts Sicialian Participation in the Work-Shop of Paris, Couleurs ET Saveurs de Sicile 2008 Participation in the Competition Cammalleri and Caltanissetta group in 2008 Participation event Fashion Day 2008 to Caltagirone 2008 Participation all’ event DYNASTIES of Misterbianco, Rewarded from Participation event Fashion Day 2009 to Caltagirone 2009-2010 Selezione and Currently Federica is designing new creations, and specializing in wedding dresses, that are being designed in her Fashion manufacturing in Atelier in Via A.Manzoni 38 in the historical center of Catania, Italy.

www.federicafanti.com

Spring 2011/43

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