Featuring a variety of southern Italian family recipes, Cucina Bella celebrated its 20th year in downtown Algonquin earlier this year. Owner Tony Colatorti opened the Italian restaurant in 2005 after operating Luke’s Italian Beef locations in the area, the Northwest Herald reported. One of Colatorti’s favorite menu items is the Suprema sauce, created when marinara sauce was accidentally mixed into Alfredo sauce; it has become one of the restaurant’s best sellers. “Lots of people try to duplicate it. Without the exact marinara ratio, it’s hard to do,” he told the newspaper. For more, click here.  

A new spot in Chicago’s South Loop owned by former Chicago Bear Israel Idonije boasts offering “the world’s best amaro party.” Buttercup, located at 75 E. 16th St., is a coffee bar during the day and an amaro-focused cocktail lounge and bistro in the evening, Eater Chicago reported. The 900-square-foot space features a 40-seat room with an 11-seat, chrome-topped bar. Starting at 7 a.m., the coffee menu offers custom blends for espresso and drip from Chicago-based Sparrow Coffee, alongside baked goods like pastries, blueberry-corn muffins and sticky-toffee bread. The evening menu starts at 4 p.m. and features Italian-leaning classics like …

Sometime this winter, “Top Chef” alum and celebrity chef Joe Flamm will open Bar Tutto, an Italian all-day cafe and restaurant in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood, Eater Chicago reported. Located at 1110 W. Carroll Ave., Bar Tutto will serve breakfast pastries and espresso in the morning, and salumi, pastas, and spritzes for lunch and dinner. With seating for about 100, the space will feature an open kitchen, wood-fired grill, outdoor patio and walk-up window. Bar Tutto is the fourth Chicago restaurant from Flamm and Day Off Group, following Roman-cuisine focused Il Carciofo, the Italian-Croatian restaurant Rose Mary, and BLVD Steakhouse. …

Emilia D’Albero of Philadelphia became the first American to win at the Mondial du Fromage, one of the world’s top cheese competitions, held every two years in France. D’Albero earned the title of Meilleure Fromagère du Monde (Best Cheesemonger in the World) at this year’s event. D’Albero’s love affair with cheese began at La Scuola di Eataly in New York City, where she worked in education and event planning, The Washington Post reported. “When it came time for me to make a decision about what I was going to do next in my career, I decided I wanted to learn …

Bravura ballet Ballet Legere’s 40th anniversary production of “The Nutcracker” will run from Dec. 6-7 at Dominican University in River Forest. Artistic Director Donna Vittorio has assembled a troupe of professional dancers from Chicago-area companies as well as local child and adult amateur dancers. General performances are at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 6 and at noon and 4 p.m. on Dec. 7 (balletlegere.org, 708-488-5000). Weekday performances on Dec. 4, 5 and 8 are geared for school field trips and senior groups. For more, click here. Rising son Matteo Bocelli will bring his Falling in Love tour to …

Our Good Vibes feature spotlights websites, blogs, videos and podcast from around the world that celebrate Italy’s inimitable spirit. If you have a favorite online offering you’d like to share, send it to info@franoi.com. For more, follow us on Facebook. Messano does stellar job on Winwood classic As a former musical director for Steve Winwood, few are as qualified as Bobby Messano to cover his classic “Can’t Find My Way Home.” Accompanied only by drum and bass, he masterfully finger picks his way through one of the greatest and most recognizable introductory riffs in all of rock. More surprising are …

Casa Italia will host a Day of Remembrance honoring the tragic fire that struck Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago in 1958. Slated for Dec. 6 at the Italian Cultural Center in Stone Park, the event will begin with a continental breakfast at 10 a.m., followed at 10:30 by a seminar. A panel discussion will feature testimony from OLA fire survivors and community members, including Graceann Jacobellis-DiGioia, sisters Margaret and Rosemary Orlando, and Linda Maffiola-Piatkiewicz. “This devastating fire not only took the lives of three nuns and 92 students but also fractured an entire ethnic community” Maffiola-Piatkiewicz says. …

For the third year running, the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii will stage its Mary and Christmas concert in the McLaughlin Theater at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, while renovation progresses as part of Pompeii’s “Shining Brightly” campaign. The Dec. 6 performance will feature Maestra Carling FitzSimmons and the shrine chorale and orchestra in a program of familiar Yuletide favorites and classics. The performances will begin at 7:45 p.m. The evening will include a pre-concert reception at 6 p.m. and a champagne and pastry reception afterward. Complimentary valet parking will be available, with drop-off at 1076 Roosevelt Road. …

There is strength in numbers, the adage goes, and nowhere is that more apparent than at Casa Italia in Stone Park, where numerous organizations will join forces to stage the Casa’s annual Christmas Village. The complimentary open house is slated for Dec. 7. The following organizations have signed on to participate at the time of publication: the Associazione Regionale Siciliana in America, Calabresi in America Organization, Associazione Regionale Pugliesi in America/San Nicola, Chicago West Suburban UNICO, Chicagoland Italian American Charitable Organization, Columbian Club of Chicago, Italian American Executives of Transportation, Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, Società San Francesco di …

Fr. Tim Anastos will celebrate Advent at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish & Shrine in Melrose Park on Dec. 2 with a 6 p.m. Mass, followed by dinner and a reflection. Fr. Anastos is director and chaplain of the St. John Paul II Newman Center at the University of Illinois-Chicago. A eucharistic preacher for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he is the host of “Reel Homilies” on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok and the author of the book “Jesus, Make Me Fully Alive.” The event will be hosted by the parish’s Altar and Rosary Society. The donation …