Ribalta’s Spaghettoni al Pomodoro

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Whenever I go to an Italian restaurant, I usually order Pasta with Tomato Sauce to see if they can pull off this basic, yet very complex, dish. I do a similar thing when I go to Neapolitan pizzerias and order the classic Margherita. Those two dishes are the Continue reading

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Gnocco Fritto

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I am not exaggerating when I say that one of the best things I have ever eaten is Gnocco Fritto. A specialty of Emilia Romagna, this is not to be confused with the pasta that we all are familiar with called Gnocchi (small potato dumplings). To make it even more confusing, there is also a dish called Continue reading

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My Doni Tondo, Dinner at Felidia, And Tons of Coincidences

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Life is bizarre and full of pain. Sometimes you get what you always dreamed of, probably because you have envisioned it for years and have played it over and over in your head. I wanted a wife from Italy, believing the best come from Naples and also Salerno. Would you believe I found one that is born and raised EXACTLY IN BETWEEN BOTH Napoli and Salerno??? There are so many other things that I had to wait long and hard for, and some I have yet to get…and may never get.

Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo is a painting which has haunted me my whole Life. When I finally got to Florence in the Continue reading

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Interview of the Week : Mike Colicchio

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Social Media is weird. You can get to know someone without ever meeting that person face to face. And you end up “meeting” them online but sometimes will end up forgetting how you guys met and through which mutual friend. But when that person is Mike Colicchio, who cares how you met? The daily posts of his Continue reading

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The Nick Stellino Dinner at Emilio’s Ballato

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I get a message CC’d to me by Mike Colicchio about organizing a bunch of fellow troublemakers to honor Nick Stellino with a dinner. It was Mike’s great idea and the the job of making it happen was given to the Men Who Dine, Alan Watts and Gennaro Pecchia. The plan was to go all out. Get dressed to impress and meet on Continue reading

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I want to be exiled

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Napoleon was exiled to the picturesque island of Elba, off the Tuscan coast of Italy. After failing to kill St. John with poison, the Apostle was exiled to Patmos, a Greek Island. That was their “punishment”. So, let me get this straight. If you do what is deemed wrong, you are FORCED to spend the rest of your life on a beautiful Mediterranean island? And to make matters “worse”, you must subsist on a diet of wild vegetables, fish, sheep-milk cheeses, and wine? And your desserts are all natural, being honey-based? And you must suffer by the sea?!?!  And you have minimal contact with people? If that’s the punishment for exile, who do I kill? Please, I want to be exiled. Please exile me now.

Photo is mine from Positano, Italy, close to where my mother was born and raised, close to where my wife is from, close to where I was married, and it blends into the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, where I hope to be cremated when I die and my ashes thrown into water.

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Interview of the Week : Charles Scicolone

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Whenever my father tries a new style wine, loaded with oak, vanilla, and ripe fruit, he shakes his head in disappointment and says, “This wine is not sincere. A wine should be sincere ! ” Maybe it’s because Charles Scicolone is Italian and Continue reading

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Interview of the Week : Scott Wiener

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They say Scorpios are the most intense of all signs and being one myself, I totally agree. We also get along well with fellow Scorpios and other water signs, so when I first met Scott Wiener, I knew right away this guy was great as a human and extremely dedicated to what he loves : PIZZA. I already had known of Scott back in Continue reading

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Interview Of The Week : Johnny Meatballs

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With social media, a friend is always one click away. I know people who I have yet to meet face to face that I already like more than most people I have known personally for many years. You meet some characters on the internet but Continue reading

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