Brindiamo! Magazine with Ornella Fado "Fall"

CEO/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Ornella Fado

HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

Stephen Shadrach shadrach@wedophoto.com

DESIGNER

Giselle Palacios DelMundo www.gippydesign.com

CONTRIBUTING

Liliana Rosano Frank De Lucia

Special Thanks to OK Productions Crew

The staff of the Brindiamo!™ restaurants for sharing their tasty recipes and stories

OK Productions Italy

Marco Visca (ESQ) Via Montello Studio 06 39738007 Cell: 39 346 2380278 marcovisca2@virgilio.it Gianfranco Rosalba cell: 39 335 639568 brindiamoitalia@virgilio.it

Dear Friends and Fans,

I am very pleased and excited to present you with the third issue of Brindiamo!™ magazine: “Special Edition: Columbus Day Parade!” So much has happened since the second issue was released. We visited Italy and filmed a great new show from a two-Michelin star restaurant in Senigallia called Madonnina del Pescatore, owned by Moreno Cedroni. We were also special guests at the exclusive innauguration of a new vineyard, Domodimonti, in the beautiful region of Marche. Back in New York, we filmed three great new episodes for the upcoming season on NYC Life: “Sora Lella,” “Olio Pizza e Più,” and “Etc. Etc”.

Coming up in October, Brindiamo!™ will be celebrating its fifth year on NYC TV. As part our celebration, beginning on October 4, NYC Life will premier “A Taste of Brindiamo!™”—a series of fun one-minute Brindiamo!™ segments with recipes, interviews and more. Also in October, we will be launching the very first Brindiamo!™ Scholarship with Italian Food Style Education Culinary Institute (I.F.S.E.), and on October 11, we will be participating in the biggest Italian celebration in America: the Columbus Day Parade. At this year’s parade, Brindiamo!™ will have its very own float, complete with many great Italian chefs, opera singers, distinguished guests and yours truly, marching along Fifth Svenue.

We look forward to sharing even more fantastic and exciting news about Brindiamo!™ in the months ahead, including the brand-new season on NYC Life. With more Italian restaurants, tasty recipes, Italian celebrities and fashion tips, I invite you to continue watching Brindiamo!™ every week.

A presto,

Ornella Fado

I Famosi Carciofi Alla Giudea

Lattanzi

IN T H E H EART OF MA NH ATTA N

T RADITIO N A N D AU T H EN TIC Italian taste live together in one of the most famous Italian restaurants in Manhattan, Lattanzi. Located on 46 th Street, Lattanzi is rustic but elegant, and a family-owned restaurant that has been in the heart of the Theatre District since 1984. Newly renovated, it features a skylight patio with open gardens, four dining rooms divided between two floors, a new bar and a new terrace on the upper level.

The cuisine is inspired by the Roman Jewish community: simple and rich. The menu offers fish and meat, pastas and artichokes, as well as lots of vegetables and desserts.

A comfortable and attractive Theatre Row spot with gracious service and good food, Lattanzi has first-rate pastas and hearty Italian peasant fare served up with imagination and flair. Don’t miss one of the best minestrones in the city, the luscious mushroom ravioli or the divine scampi Angela. The emphasis is on pasta with fresh vegetables and on meats, fish and chicken that have been marinated and then sautéed and stewed. All are accented with fresh rosemary, bay leaves, garlic, olive oil and white vinegar.

Desserts include a creamy Napoleon, rated one of the best 50 dishes in the United States by Forbes Magazine, among other tasty treats, all made on premises.

The atmosphere—cozy and friendly—makes the restaurant a nice place to spend time thanks to Vittorio Lattanzi and his lovely wife, Carla, who run the restaurant.

No matter whether you go to Lattanzi for dinner or lunch, there will always be an Italian vibe for a special meal.

LATTANZI RISTO R ANTE

361 West 46th S treet, N ew York, N Y 10036

Tel. (212) 315-0980 www.lattanzinyc.com

FROM T RENTINO STRAW BERRY JAM, to the chocolate of Modica made according to an ancient Aztec recipe, to such traditional prod ucts as pasta and cheese, the Fancy Food Show is a triumph of Italian flavors and colors that brings together food from different cultures and countries in a unique setting. The Fancy Food Show, organized by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, is held once a year in New York at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. It is a special occasion not just for business operators, but also for gourmets and people who simply enjoy food, like to follow new trends in the food industry, and see how the food market is changing.

The Italian pavilion was, without surprise, the most popular and crowded with visitors to the show, with many lining up to taste Tuscan olive oil or to savor a glass of limoncello, Sardinian bread, and, of course, Sicilian pastries.

If you are wondering which products were the most popular, people will say that every kind of food from Italy is a guarantee of quality, fresh ness and good taste. In a word: excellence.

During this summer’s Fancy Food Show, not only did Italian exhibitors offer classical products, such as pasta, olive oil and so on, they also tried to appeal to the American and global market with new organic food that combines quality with a respect for the environment.

Even though Italian food is popular all over the world, some exhibitors expressed concern about the consequences for the food market resulting from global economic crisis, and about the bureaucratic side of the export market, which after September 11, 2001, made the export business much more complicated. Some producers expressed worry about the state of their businesses, and about the emergence of countries like Spain and Chile, which offer good products at much more competitive prices.

FANCY FOOD 2010

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, the Italian-Croatian-American chef, author and restaurateur, attended the Fancy Food Show as a guest star. Specializing in Italian and Croatian cuisine, Bastianich has been a regular contributor to public television cooking show lineups since 1998. In 2007, she launched her third TV series, Lidia’s Italy. For the Italian exhibitors and producers, the American market has always been the most important because Italian food is the most popular among American consumers.

Ultimately, what makes Italian food so popular is the combination of fresh products, natural ingredients and, above all, respect for the old traditions of food preparation. Even today, Italian pastries are baked from recipes passed down from generation to generation. This special combi nation makes Italian food unique and special.

The result? Today, as in the past, Italian food continues to maintain high standards and commitment to the good taste of “Made in Italy.“

BRINDIAMO! ‘S PICK AT FANCY FOOD: FIASCONARO, “ IL MAESTRO DEL PANETTONE”

THE STORY OF T HE BROT HERS FIASCON ARO began 60 years ago, when their grandfather and father ran a small bakery in the village of Castelbuono, a charming town near Palermo in the heart of Madonie Park. It was then that the three brothers— Fausto, Martino and Nicola, who helped out in their spare time—began to learn the craft of pastry making. Today, three generations later, the Fiasconaro Brothers is a brand name guaranteeing excellence in workmanship and quality, well known through out the world. Not only do its pastries and other sweets, like panettone, torroncini and paste di mandorla, display respect for the old traditions, but they also exemplify a modern form of entrepreneurship.

Fiasconaro pastries delight the palate, and are distinguished for their attention to product packaging, refinement and detail.

Nicola Fiasconaro, the pastry chef, also known as the “ambassador of sweet Sicilian excellence in the world,” shows passion for his job as well as talent and originality. During our meeting at the Fancy Food Show in New York, where he was one of the exhibitors, Nicola effusively displayed that talent and his enthusiasm for his products. His pastries and sweets have already achieved an impressive niche in the American market and are available in New York City at Agata and Valentina.

WHEN IN ROME… FELLINI I NN!

If you want to live the Dolce Vita in Rome, the vibe of the eternal city, you should visit the Fellini Inn. The guest house is located in the heart of the city, a 10-minute walk from the Spanish Steps where the elegant Via Condotti begins for window-shopping and barely a 5-minute walk from Fontana di Trevi, the famous fountain in which Anita Ekberg bathed in the famous movie La Dolce Vita

FELLINI INN ROME

The name of the guest house is in fact a tribute to the film, directed by

Fellini, and so explains the sketches decorating its walls.

A welcoming and professional staff and comfortable rooms are what you can expect when staying at any good hotel, but once you have unpacked and left your room, you will soon find out what sets the Fellini Inn apart: easy access, either on foot or by public transport, to the very soul of Rome.

Jean Pierre, the owner, opened the Fellini Inn 10 years ago and works every day to make this place special, thanks to his professionalism and the high-quality services he offers. Jean Pierre believes that customers choose the Fellini Inn above all for its loca tion but also for its professionalism.

The rates range from EURO 49,00, which is the minimum low-season price for a double room with shared bathroom, up to EURO 299,00, which is the top high-season price for a suite. The standard rate for a room with a double or twin bed and en-suite private bathroom is 120,00 euro. Each room has its own conveniences, such as satellite TV, telephone, hair dryer and safe. A pick-up/drop-off service from/to the airport is also available.

Unique because of its location, the Fellini Inn offers hospitality and care for details, includ ing a wonderful buffet breakfast on Rome’s highest hill, with a view of the Quirinale.

Visitors to the Fellini Inn come from all over the world, especially from the United States. The Fellini Inn offers so much comfort, it will leave you feeling like you are in the midst of a movie, such as Roman Holiday and Three Coins in the Fountain

Federico

M ARIO CARAMELLA is not only one of the most famous Italian chefs in the world, he is also the co-founder of Gruppo Virtuale Cuochi Italiani (Virtual Group of Italian Cooks), which offers Italian chefs the opportunity to discuss the state of Italian cuisine worldwide

Caramella moved East in 1991, when he began his work as a chef in such Italian restaurants as Mistral, in the Intercontinental H otel, and Al Porto of Star City in Sydney, Australia. In 2003, he became Executive Chef at the H yatt Regency of H ua H in, in Thailand. Today, he is the Executive Chef at Bali H yatt, in Indonesia, where he currently lives.

B: Mario, how would you characterize the difference in the manner in which Italian restaurants and cuisine have been introduced to the East, as compared to other parts of the world?

MC: Italian cuisine in Asia, compared to other parts of the world, arrived thanks to the presence and work of professional chefs, sommeliers and managers in the 1980s, while in the United States, for example, Italian food came along with the Italian immigrants. In Asia, a number of luxury hotels and restaurants began to promote Italian cuisine in the 1980s. I am part of the group of Italian chefs that arrived in Asia because one of the companies in H ong Kong, where I worked for six years, decided to add a Mediterranean touch to their restaurant, a concept that gradually became more clear and precisely defined. This ultimately led to the opening of an Italian restaurant. Its success was immediate, and today the restaurant continues to do well, and is run by some colleagues who, like me, aim to promote Italian culture through its food.

CHE F MARiO

T H E AMBASSADOR OF ITALIA N C U ISI N E

Dolce Stil Novo

T H E PALACE RESTAURA NT

A MAGIC TRIP rich with art, history and great food! A truly thrilling experience in one of the most amazing and enchanting places on earth. This was my experience at Dolce Stil Novo, a restaurant located in the Reggia di Venaria Reale, a royal palace in the Piedmont region of Italy.

Dolce Stil Novo, the only restaurant inside a royal palace, is on the top floor, just above Diana’s Gallery, and seemingly one step below the sky. It has a breathtaking view of the gardens, the fish pond, the Courtyard of Honour and the Deer Fountain. It is a remarkably charming place that invites attention and conquers all with its beauty, stateliness and grandeur.

The restaurant combines tradition and innovation, thanks to the experience of its chef and owner, Alfredo Russo, who opened the Dolce Stil Novo in 1990 along with his wife, Stefania, after many years spent in famous restaurants and hotels. At first glance, the combination of tradition and innovation, Piemontese influences and Italian roots, might seem to be dichotomies, but in Alfredo Russo’s cuisine they become one single style. His dishes are the result of a subtraction of flavors rather than an addition, where each taste is clearly recognizable and identifiable. Unexpected notes, definite shades, a great interpre tation—a real, concrete, vital cuisine where purity of taste stands out. Alfredo Russo’s creations always spring from an interpretive reading of the story of Italian cuisine, in which plays of textures, shades and flavors give life to a delightful experience of taste.

During my visit, Alfredo cooked some of his best meals for Brindiamo!™ , such as Lasagnette, a delicious antipasto with artichokes and pistachio, and a dessert called Sbriciolona Cake.

Alfredo Russo was “initiated” into Italian cuisine when he was 13 years old. With great interest and genuine affection, he attended a

hotel-management school and worked in various famous restaurants. This served as a prelude to Russo’s adventure into the world that taught him high cuisine, and where he learned to revolutionize the food business with his unusual creations and dishes.

Russo qualified as the best young cook in 2004, according to the Espresso Guide, and over the last few years his professionalism has won him more and more recognition at a national and international level, so much so he has regularly been featured in Italian and foreign food magazines and journals. Also, over the last few years, besides attending to the kitchen at Dolce Stil Novo, he has served as a consul tant to big hotel chain restaurants in Asia and cruise ships. He has also managed various events: important soirées such as the one given for the International Olympic Committee for Turin’s candidacy as the site of the Winter Olympic Games in 2006, and the one at UNESCO in Paris for the presentation of Turin and Rome as the capitals of books. Also, together with other top Piedmontese chefs, Russo kicked off the whole gastronomic program of P Food & Wine, the hospitality area of the Piedmont Region, during the Winter Olympic Games in Turin in 2006; and together with these colleagues, in 2007, he was present at the UN Glass Palace to introduce UN ambassadors and delegates to Piedmon tese cooking and high cuisine.

The rich and most splendid sensory experience of Dolce Stil Novo makes for an unforgettable visit. —Ornella Fado

D O LC E STI L NO V O A LL A R E GG IA Reggia di Venaria Reale Piazza della Repubblica, 4 - Venaria Reale ( Torino) I talia Tel. + 39 011 4992343 Mob. + 39 339.1996218 www.dolcestilnovo.com

LA PASTA DI MARCO POLO

I H AVE VISITED the Marco Polo restaurant in Brooklyn several times. I always enjoy the atmo sphere and the welcoming smile on Giuseppe Chirico’s face when I arrive.

I recommend trying the specialties of Bruno Milone. He is their new young chef who recently arrived from Altamura, Italy.

My favorite dishes? The dolci are abso lutely fantastic! In addition, you must try the fettuccine al vino rosso. This dish boasts a delicious fresh pasta made with red wine and is mixed in a Parmiggiano wheel.

Marco Polo is celebrating 27 years in the restaurant business and is still delivering the highest quality food and service.

It is always a pleasure to hear about Chirico’s new projects. His eyes are espe cially sparkling now because he has his son Marco Chirico on board. Marco is a recent graduate of Johnson & Wales University, and takes great pride in his and his father’s work. —Ornella Fado

Marco Polo Ristorante

345 Court S t., Brooklyn, N Y 11231 Tel. 718-852-5015 www.marcopoloristorante.com

Paolo Barichella FOOD DESIGNER

PAOLO BARIC H ELLA is not simply a food designer; he is an opin ion leader and an expert in communication in his field. Born in Milan in 1969, he graduated with a degree in industrial design, and he has always worked in product design, communication strategies and Internet technology. During his career, Barichella has developed and broadened his experience in the food technology business and its processes, and combined them with his training in design, sensory architecture and engineering. Thanks to his studies and research in the field of food design, today he’s one of the most appreciated international opinion leaders in this field, invited to various events and projects to offer his contributions and experience regarding the design and presentation of food. Barichella works in Milan, New York and San Paolo and travels around the world to discuss issues in communication and the evolution of design.

B: Paolo, how would you describe your profession?

PB: I am a food designer and I deal with all matters relating to the planning and presentation of food. My design concept is “Design has to be very functional.”

B: How important is communication in the food industry?

PB: We can truly say that communication governs every type of industry, and even the food industry is not exempt from its influence.

The thing that differentiates the food industry from other industries is that you work on the sensory aspects, which have a more powerful impact on food than in other sectors. There are many aspects of food beyond the image and product quality. There are values that are related, from the territory the food is from to nutrition facts, health, functionality, etc.

B: Where is the evolution of food design heading?

PB: The food world is changing a great deal. Contexts of consumption determine new patterns of behavior, dictated by new sociological approaches. The ability to interpret the progress through new technologies is the key to the success of future activities in the food industry.

New communication platforms and tools such as Mobile Web and the social media network generate new and diverse ways to socialize and enjoy food, alone or with others. The design must provide new tools to satisfy new needs. Western society is projected as a global concept of progress to achieve efficiency, and food design responds to basic and very sophisticated needs. A series of new and improved techniques and tools changed the approach to performance in better and more productive ways. Today, it is impossible to think of food apart from the environment and context of consumption. In other words, food is an expression of the current society more than in the past.

Teresa De Sio

MUSIC + SPIRIT UALIT Y

This is how Teresa De Sio, the popular singer from Naples, describes the meaning of her music and what it is like to be a musician. Teresa De Sio came to New York last April for the international spirituality festival Divinamente New York—organized in cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York—for which she wrote a song, “Amèn,” inspired by the theme of spirituality.

B: Teresa, you wrote “Amèn”as a kind of secular prayer. What is your relationship with spirituality?

TDS: I am agnostic, and spirituality for me is all that stands above the material and mercenary world. The music I wrote for “Amèn” focuses on spiritual figures related to the popular folk traditions of southern Italy—figures that are often neglected or forgotten by the official culture and many of whom belong more to the “pagan” world. Moreover, in “Amèn” I talk about the mystery of Taranta, a typical folk dance, in the context of its spiritual side and esoteric history. In my show, I hoped to communicate to the American public both the excitement and the originality of Italian folk traditions.

B: Your music, with roots in the folk and popular worlds, has become over time a refined music that sometimes seems boundless in terms of world music.

TDS: I started as a punk rocker, but then I discovered folk music could have the same impact and force that I express with rock. I worked with Brian Eno and many Italian artists who have focused on popular music. More over, even American music, which has a long tradition, especially in rock, has its roots in folk music.

B: You are not just a well-known singer but also a complete artist. In 2008, you published your first novel Metti Il Diavolo A Ballare (Make the Devil Dance). What would you say is the difference between music composing and writing?

TDS: Writing music means that you do something to share with a lot of people. The novel is more of an adven ture than a solitary expression, and is set in different times and places.

B: Returning to popular music in Italy, why has this music enjoyed such popularity? Do you think it is an artistic phenomenon or a necessity?

TDS: The rediscovery of popular music, which nevertheless has a long tradition, especially in the South, is born from the need to reassess and rediscover one’s “identity.” For years we have been musically dominated by a strong Anglo-Saxon tradition, but at one point there developed almost spontaneously a desire to return to our own roots and rediscover artists who helped shaped our musical heritage. The most beautiful part of this activity of discovery is how popular music draws in peoples of all ages, and cuts across all segments of the population.

“Music is a spiritual thing, a research of the world of ourselves, a ‘modus vivendi.’”

Mario Fratti

T H E ITALIA N PLAYW RIGH T

American critics define him as the Pirandello of our time,

but Mario Fratti, the internationally acclaimed Italian playwright and drama critic, prefers to define himself as a connoisseur of human beings in all their richness and diversity. In his works, he talks, above all, of three themes: politics, sex and women.

Engaged, sophisticated and passionate about the arts and theater, he has written such works as Suicide , The Cage , The Return , The Academy, Mafia , Races , and Bridge . Perhaps he is best known for his musical Nine (inspired by Fellini’s famous film, 8½ ), which in its original production in 1982 won the O’Neill Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, eight Drama Desk Awards, five Tony Awards and in 2000 was a recipient of the Otto Award for Political Theater. I had the good fortune to interview Fratti when we chatted in his terraced apart ment on Broadway amidst his many books and his paintings.

B: Mario, what do you think of the film Nine by Rob Marshall, inspired by your play Nine ?

MF: The film is beautiful, but it really has little to do with my play. The director wanted, perhaps too pretentiously, to imitate Fellini’s famous film, 8½ . On the contrary, when I wrote Nine , I thought of it as a work of poetry and approached my work with great respect and humility for the original.

B: What is the difference between an Italian and an American musical?

MF: The so-called Broadway Musical was created in the USA and Ameri can musicals are better than Italian ones in terms of set design, costumes,

scenic impact, and choreography. But, in my view, Italian plays are dif ferent because they do a better job of delving into the psychology of the characters. Today the Italian theater is very interesting and there are many young playwrights who are not well known yet in Italy, let alone here in America. But maybe one of the limits of Italian theater is that the language is much too sophisticated, seemingly designed just for an elite.

B: You were born in Italy (L’Aquila) but have been living in New York City since 1963. Why are you more popular in the United States than in Italy?

MF: First of all, there is an economic reason: Italian producers prefer to host a show by a foreigner (or non-Italian resident) rather than by an Italian author because they can make more money. Also, as we know, “Nemo profeta in patria,” which means that for Italians it is sometimes easier to succeed abroad than in your home country.

B: Fratti’s nearly 70 plays have received some 600 productions in two dozen countries and have been translated into many languages. What are your next projects?

MF: I am working on a new drama about Marilyn Monroe requested by, of all things, Radio Vaticana.

At first, this offer surprised me, but not completely, since I have written a good deal about women and their complicated and oftentimes dramatic and perplexing psychology. I think that women, even today, continue to suffer from discrimination in society. I love women, and I think that life without them would be impossible.

Returning to my works, I have a lot of projects, lots of stories to talk about. I have been inspired by daily life. My comedies and plays belong to this world, for better and worse.

TIME FOR SOME HISTORY… THE RENAISSANCE

I TALY IS FAMO US around the world for playing a central role in the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that lasted from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between m edieval and e arly modern Europ e an history. The word renaissance (“rinascimento” in Italian) means “rebirth,” and the era is best known for the renewed interest in the culture of classical antiquit y after the period that Renaissance humanist s labeled the Dark Ages

The European Renaissance began in Tuscany (central Italy ) and was centered in the cities of Florenc e and Sien a . It later had a great impact in Venic e, where the remains of ancient Greek culture were brought together, providing humanist scholars with new texts. The Italian Renaissance peaked in the mid-16th century as foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the Italian Wars. However, the ideas and ideals of the Renaissance endured and even spread into the rest of Europe, leading to the Northern Renaissance and the English Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance is best known for its cultural achievements. Accounts of Renaissance literature usually begin with Petrarch (best known for the elegantly polished vernacular sonnet sequence of the Canzoniere and for the craze for book collecting that he initiated) and his friend and contemporary Boccaccio (author of the Decameron ). Famous native poets of the 15th century include the renaissance epic authors Luigi Pulci (author of Morgante ), Matteo Maria Boiardo ( Orlando Innamorato ), and Ludovico Ariosto ( Orlando Furioso ). Fifteenth-century writers such as the poet Poliziano and the Platonist philosopher Marsilio Ficino made extensive translations from both Latin and Greek. In the early 16th century, Baldesar Castiglione ( The Book of the Courtier) laid out his vision of the ideal gentleman and lady, while Machiavelli casted a jaundiced eye on “la verità effettuale della cosa”—the actual truth of things—in The Prince, composed chiefly of parallel ancient and modern examples of Virtù in humanist style.

Italian Renaissance painting exercised a dominant influence on subsequent European painting for centuries, with artists such as Giotto di Bondone, Masaccio, Piero della Francesc a, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Titian. The same is true for architecture, as practiced by Brunelleschi, Leone Alberti, Andrea Palladio and Donato Bramante

The Renaissance was also a period of intellectual curiosity and human courage. That’s why navigators traveled to discover new routes and new worlds.

;

It was Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), a Genoese navigator, who convinced the Spanish to underwrite a western expedition to the East. Columbus believed that the world was considerably smaller than it was generally believed to be and he managed to convince Isabella, the Queen of Spain, that a western expedition would be a short trip. He was, of course, completely mistaken, and had the Americas not gotten in his way, he and his men would have starved or died of dehydration just as those at home had guessed they would. But fortunately for Columbus, America did get in the way.

The Europeans immediately believed that a new continent had been discovered and they called it the New World. As for Columbus, he never acknowledged or believed that the Americas were anything other than Asia. Columbus was pretty much the only European who subscribed to this view. He went to his grave absolutely convinced of this idea, and sent several of his crew to their graves for daring to suggest otherwise.

The “New World” is a problematic term for many reasons. First, it was not a “New World,” for the inhabitants of America had known of its existence for at least 20,000 years. No European had discovered America, since Native Americans had, in essence, discovered the continent some twenty centuries earlier. Second, the Americas were not isolated, even from Europe.

A few Europeans, then, had a slight knowledge of the Americas. Columbus’s discovery, however, catapulted these countries to the forefront of the European imagination. Soon after Columbus’s discovery, every country in Europe jumped on the Americas bandwagon. Henry VII of England sent John Cabot to explore the coast of New England. In 1500, Pedro Cabral, a Portuguese captain, discovered South America. Florence sent Amerigo Vespucci, who traveled several times to the new continent in order to catalog the geography; because of this, the continents would eventually bear his name. The Renaissance was, in other words, the triumph of the human being as the center of the universe and the celebration of science and the arts from a human point of view.

Sora Lella

A ROMA N HOLIDAY IN SOHO

IF YOU MISS Roman food and its authentic taste, you must visit Sora Lella, in SoHo. You will not be disappointed. Natural ingredients, old recipes according to authentic Roman traditions, and a cozy atmo sphere are the hallmarks of this well-known New York City eatery.

Sora Lella has been delighting diners in Rome with outstanding food and an enchanting location on Isola Tiberina, in the Tiber River since 1959.The restaurant was named after the co-owner (with her husband) and the original chef—Elena Trabalza, nicknamed Sora Lella, an actress and sister of famed Italian actor Aldo Fabrizi. What started as a simple trattoria quickly became one of Rome’s most popular restaurants due not only to the actors who frequented it, but also to Elena’s cooking. Over the past 50 years, the family has continued to run the restaurant and offer traditional Roman dishes using only the highest-quality and freshest ingredients in a welcoming setting. With the opening of Sora Lella in New York, chef Mauro Trabalza, Sora Lella’s grandson, brings authentic Roman cooking to Hudson Square in New York and continues the family tradition. At Sora Lella, you can find Roman icons like the famous gnocchi alla amatriciana (homemade potato “pillows” with tomato, pecorino and guanciale), spaghetti a cacio e pepe (classical Roman spaghetti with Pecorino and fresh ground black pepper), pasta e ceci (“malfatti” pasta with chickpeas) and other specialities you will love, such as polpettine di Nonna Lella, Nonna Lella’s meatballs served in a tomato sauce.

Dishes rely on humble cuts of meat, wild herbs, salted cod and simply dressed pasta. Black pepper, chili and salt are the seasonings of choice at the neighborhood trattorias to which Romans in Rome and in New York too are fiercely loyal.

Despite its ancient reputation as the voluptuous capital of an empire with a taste for peacocks at banquets, Roman food has

become easier for home cooks, not just chefs, to prepare. Excellent guanciale is available from domestic artisanal producers. Puntarelle, the peppery dandelion-like greens that the Romans dress with anchovies, is being grown locally. Cheese shops stock sheep-milk ricotta and Roman pecorino, even the younger “cacio de Roma.” In spring, there will be baby lamb at some butchers. Special cuts of pasta, including bavette, a kind of thin, rumpled tagliatelle, are also turning up in markets and online.

Smoked guanciale, an essential ingredient in many Roman pasta dishes, including spaghetti alla carbonara, isn’t readily avail able in the United States, but Mauro Trabalza, the chef at Sora Lella, recommends a mixture of regular guanciale or pancetta to one part bacon to approximate the flavor of smoked guanciale.

Sora Lella offers also a bar menù with a different kind of finger food, such as supplì, bruschette, fried zucchini and crocchette di patate. After dining, and before leaving the restaurant, you must absolutely try the Sora Lella cocktail made from a 40-year-old family recipe, whose ingredients are still secret.

SO RR A L E LL A 300 S pring S treet, N ew York, 10013 Tel. 212-366-4749 www.soralellanyc.com

I NGREDIEN TS:

2 cups of crumbled biscuits (Savoiardi or Oro Saiwa)

400 g sugar

2 cups cocoa powder

Almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, dried fruit apricots, plums

1 cup honey or 200 grams of cherry jam (or even better result would be sour cherry jam)

3 ½ cups butter

1 egg

Pinch of ground cinnamon or ginger

In a large bowl, crumble the biscuits well. Add sugar, cocoa powder, dried nuts and fruit, honey and butter that you previously dissolved in a hot water bath. Mix thoroughly until it gets soft and smooth, then spread the mixture on wax paper and turn it until it resembles the shape of salami. Seal it, then refrigerate the mixture for at least 2 hours. Once you can slice it, place it one plate garnished with caramel or chocolate mousse or with vanilla ice cream to give it a touch of originality. You can add a little salt, vanilla, and a drop of extra virgin olive oil, to enhance

A FTER 46 Y EARS, an Italian musical is coming to New York City. It feels like a dream for Italians living here, and for people who have long labored to bring Pinocchio , the best Italian musical comedy, directed by Saverio Marconi, to the world. The musical, whose music was written by Pooh, is produced by Incanto Productions, along with Compagnia della Rancia and will premiere on October 19 2010, at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College.

“Enthusiasm, happiness and pride for what seemed a mission impossible” are the words of Simona Rodano, founder of Incanto Productions, as well as one of the characters (she plays the role of Angela), and thanks to whom Pinocchio will come to New York.

B: Pinocchio : an Italian musical, finally comes to the United States, the land of Broadway musicals. What do you think about this?

SR: I think it’s a wonderful opportunity. The last Italian musical that was shown in the United States was Rugantino of Garinei and Giovannini, in 1964. This musical, Pinocchio , is a unique event: an original show, and a universal story popular throughout the world. Twenty Italian performers will sing and recite in Italian, and English subtitles will be used to ensure complete understanding for all those who will come to see the show.

B: How different is this musical from the classic American musicals?

SR: This musical version was adapted by the director Saverio Mar coni. Set in the 1960s, the major figure, Geppetto, is not the classic character, old and capricious, but a young single man in his 40s who has his workshop and few employees. The music and costumes are completely Italian. The music is drawn from the work of the famous Italian group Pooh, while the costumes were created by Vincentiis Zaira De Gabriele Moreschi and Marcelo Cosentino, respecting Italian taste and style. Italy is the country of Bel Canto and operetta and these ingredients are also part of the music, along with some other musical influences, from Latin pop and even hip-hop.

B: Who do you think is the best audience for the musical Pinocchio ?

SR: This Pinocchio is really suitable for the whole family, for people of all ages. Pinocchio had 450,000 viewers across Italy from 2003

until today. But the thing that still strikes me when I think back to the tour that Pinocchio did last August in Korea is that this musical has great appeal even to those who do not speak Italian. Every thing, the script, the music, makes the show global and universal in appeal.

B: What have you learned from bringing Pinocchio to the United States? SR: To bring Pinocchio to New York was just a dream three years ago—a dream that today is about to come true, thanks to everyone who supported me from the beginning, both in Italy and in Amer ica. Think about when we were children, when our mother, our Dad or our teachers at school told us that the tale of Pinocchio is a “love story”; this quality of the tale of Pinocchio has not changed. Also for me, there is something personal about this production that I want to share with you. Six years ago, I moved to America while the musical Pinocchio was still being performed throughout Italy. I remember my father, who was then living in Turin, said, “Well if Pinocchio comes to New York, I will come to visit you.” As you can see, now it is time for him to come for a visit.

Pinocchio: the Italian Musical

The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College E. 68th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues

S H O W S

Tuesday, October 19 8:00 PM

Wednesday, October 20 8:00 PM

Thursday, October 21 8:00 PM

Friday, October 22 8:00 PM Saturday, October 23 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM

THE ITALIAN MUSICAL ARRIVES ON BROADWAY

www.ovestnyc.com

I F YO U ARE LOOKI NG for a place that combines good food, a nice atmosphere and a cool vibe, Ovest is your destination. Ovest Pizzoteca is the artsy, trendy sister of Luzzo’s, the famous pizzeria already well known in New York. The name of the new place com bines a reference to its West Side location (Ovest means west in Italian) with the variety of its culinary offerings. Pizzoteca reflects Luzzo’s inimitable Neapolitan pizza style, which nicely complement its selection of good wines and tasty Italian-style panini.

Luzzo’s pizza is prepared with fresh ingredients from Naples following traditional recipes that have been handed down for generations. Today it continues to be made with passion by the greatest Neapolitan pizzaiolos (pizza makers), especially by executive pizzaiolo, owner and founder Michele Iuliano, who cooks it with love and pride. Born in Milan, Eden Tessamariam worked as manager at Luzzo for two years before becoming Michele’s partner at Ovest. Ovest’s modern space was designed by Matias Sagaria, an Italian architect.

Ovest is located right in the middle of West 27th Street’s Club Row. The pizzoteca (pizzeria, paninoteca, and enoteca all in one) boasts a wood- and gas-burning oven for Iuliano’s signature pies, but differs from his other outposts, thanks to an extensive panini menu and office worker-baiting midday specials (a $6 pizza special or a $16 two-course prix fixe). For the late-night crowd, the oven stays fired until the wee hours so the club-goers can get their fix.

People who go to Ovest, always with a trendy with a cosmopolitan vibe, also have the opportunity of enjoying a nice happy hour with a great variety of appetizers and drinks as well as free food from Monday to Friday (5:00-8:00 PM) and brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

OVEST

ECO JE WELRY of LUDOVICA

RECYCLING MEETS DESIGN

I DON’ T LIKE TO WASTE but to create,” says Ludovica Cirillo, a 16-year-old girl from Rome who uses this phrase to describe her passion for “eco-jewelry”. She employs shattered bits of used components of technology in her original jewelry creations, and has already achieved recognition from some notable jewelery stylists, as well as mention in a range of fashion magazines and newspapers. She began her work two years ago by accident while on a cruise to Norway. “I got bored a lot,” says Ludovica, “since there were no kids my age onboard. So I started to add clasps and hooks to some headphones I’d brought. Since then, I have never stopped creating, and my collection, called Ecotech Bijoux, based in Rome, is considered a mix of trendy-chic design with a respect for the environment.”

“In these times,” according to the young designer, “I think it’s natural that the concept of recycling would inspire my aesthetic work. And it’s been as much fun creating these pieces as it has been for my clients to wear them. After a successful tour of European cities, including Berlin, London and Paris, I’m convinced that Ecotech Bijoux will delight both adolescents and women of all ages.

“I started looking at different objects as well as the computer keys with different eyes,” continues Ludovica. My jewelry became popular when my first earrings were hailed by Ilaria Venturini Fendi who wanted them, and placed them, along with my necklace, in her boutique on Via Borghese in Rome.

”Since then, other famous people and celebrities have wanted my creations. For example, Alda Fendi is one of my customers too, as well as Paolo Nutini, the rock musician who wanted a pair of ‘twins.”

Ludovica Cirillo had her first exhibition in Rome (Via Margutta) last June. She was especially pleased about that. The exhibition drew praise from Roberto Capucci, Renzo Arbore, the fashion designers Renato Balestra, Gattinoni, Sarli and the president of the Italy Foundation, Massimo Arlechino, who will soon be the principal designer for the Museum of Design in Rome, and who has already invited Ludovica to mount an exhibit in the section called ”future.”

RICHARD ROTHBARD AMERICA N

CRAFTSMA N

RIC H ARD ROT HBARD began wood working as an actor in New York City, crafting his version of rustic colonial furniture and paneling for his apart ment. In 1967, he opened Impressions in Wood on Lexington Avenue with a client list that included Paul Kantner and Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. Ten years later, he closed his shop and moved to the country. While experimenting with different techniques for making boxes, Rothbard found that he could create interesting shapes using the band saw. In fact, his boxes sold to the point that he could hardly keep up with production. He later began producing arts and crafts fairs and opened the first American Craftsman Gallery, in Greenwich Village in New York representing more than 400 artists. Boxology, the name of Rothbard’s creations, has been an integral part of his galleries.

The Box created for Ornella is a combination of maple, bubinga, buckeye and wenge (an African Wood). None of the woods are stained—they are all their natural colors.

NYC LIFE LAUNCHES NEW FALL

LINE-UP AT THE NEW YORK TELEVISION FESTIVAL

A NE W S EASO N FEATURI N G 10 NE W S ERIES A N D 12 NE W S HORT-FORM P ROGRAMS

NYC Life (channel 25), the flagship television station of NYC Media, announced the launch of its expanded fall line-up, featuring 10 new series, and a dozen new short-form programs showcasing N ew York City. Part of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, NYC Media is the official TV, radio and online network of the City of N ew York, informing, educating and entertain ing N ew Yorkers about the city’s diverse people and neighborhoods, government, services, attractions and activities. The new series will premiere on NYC Life beginning the week of October 4. The commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Com missioner, Katherine Oliver, and NYC Media General Manager Diane Petzke previewed the new program ming at an event at Tribeca Cinemas as part of the N ew York Television Festival. Chef Odette Fada prepared amazingly delicious ravioli for the event.

This year Brindiamo! ™ is celebrating its fifth year on the air and we are toasting in celebration with a mini-series of one-minute segments entitled “Taste of Brindiamo! ™”

WITH

B r i n d i a m o!

ENIN GS

Mario Fratti Stephen Morrow

Artistic Directors Caterina Rago and Antonio Pio Fini

“E

T H EREAL , M Y STICAL

A N D HY P N OTIC ” is how dance critics might describe the dance repertoire of Caterina Rago. Otherwise known as Catherine Ogar, she debuted in July with her company, Catherine Ogar Dance Company, at the Manhattan Movement and Art Arts Center. Along with Antonio Pio Fini, her partner, with whom she founded the company in 2010, Rago expresses a new way and method of dance, combining elements of classical ballet with contemporary movement and style. The result is a very sophisticated combination that brings together the conceptual and the physical at the same time.

Caterina Rago is originally from Italy, where she received her BFA in contemporary dance from l’ Accademia Nazionale di Danza in Rome. She performed with Danzare La Vita under Artistic Director Elsa Piperno, the Joseph Fontano Dance Group, and as an aerial dancer with Kitonb Extreme Theatre Company (directed by Angelo Bonello).

As a guest artist, Rago has performed in the theaters of Kiev (Ukraine), Budapest and Brussels. In 2006, she took part in the inauguration of the XX Winter Olympics Games in Torino dancing the Simbolo Della Pace by Ivan Manzoni. She presented her own choreography in Eternal Return , for the Graham II Season of 2008. In New York she danced I Giullari di Piazza , directed by Alessandra Belloni, with the Nu Dance Theater with Eva Perrotta, and with the Hunter Performance Group with Whitney V. Hunter. In 2009, Rago joined the Martha Graham Dance Company. Beyond her work with the Graham Company, she is also an Artist in Residence at Webster

Hall and has been commissioned to present numerous works of her original choreography.

Antonio Pio Fini, her partner, originally from the south of Italy, began his dance training in Calabria. After graduating from the Carcano Theatre in Milan, he moved to New York and became a full scholar ship student at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. He has danced professionally for the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Balletto di Milano, Compagnia dei Giovani Carcano, Talenti in Scena, and in Rochink Fathion (a television program on Italia1).As a chore ographer, he has created original works for, Ethno Show at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele Milan, Diego e Isabella at the Siris Festival, I Gioielli della Madonna for The New York City Opera, as well as winning the Olympic Dance Game in Milan. In New York, Pio Fini has danced with Graham II, the Martha Graham Dance Company, Hunter Dance Theatre, Long Island Ballet Theater, Staten Island Ballet, Roy Buby Escudero Company, and Michael Mao Dance.

With, Caterina, Pio Fini is also an Artist in Residence for the Quarterly Art Soiree at Webster Hall. Aside from his duties as artistic director of the Caterina Ogar Dance Company, he has danced and choreographed for I Giullari di Piazza , the company in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (founded and directed by Alessandra Belloni). Pio Fini has collaborated extensively with Ms. Belloni in her workshop, Rhythm Is the Cure. He is also a fire dancer, a ritual dancer, a musician special izing in drums, a certified Pilates instructor and a Reiki master.