“The Tuscans celebrate beef as much as people do in Chicago.” That’s what two-time James Beard-nominated chef Evan Funke told David Manilow, host of “The Dining Table” podcast, during a conversation about his new restaurant, Tre Dita, which he opened in the spring in Chicago in partnership with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. “Tre dita” means “three fingers” in Italian, a reference to the thickness of a properly cut Bistecca alla Fiorentina, the upscale restaurant’s signature dish featuring 60-day dry-aged, 42-ounce prime porterhouse at $290 a pop. The restaurant, on the second floor of The St. Regis Chicago, 401 E. …

After the closure of its flagship restaurant in Chicago’s Little Italy, Rosebud now boasts its first location outside of Illinois. Rosebud on Taylor closed Dec. 31 but is still open for private events. Originally founded in 1976 as Bocciola della Rose (“bud of the rose” in Italian), the restaurant attracted famous patrons such as Oprah Winfrey, Frank Sinatra, Robert De Niro and Gene Hackman, Eater Chicago reported. However, the area changed over the last 50 years, founder Alex Dana told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Industrial companies moved away, which once provided us with huge lunchtime crowds. Little Italy got smaller, and …

Restaurateur Dominic Florio has come out of retirement to open an Italian restaurant in Crystal Lake, in suburban Chicago. Slated to open in July, at 1540 Carlemont Drive, Florio’s Italian features fresh ingredients and traditional southern Italian recipes. Florio sold his original Florio’s restaurant in Chicago in the 1990s, then went into the car-dealership business until he retired, Shaw Local reported. “I decided, one more time,” the 73-year-old said. “I can only play so much golf, and I love the business.” Chef Renato Marmolino, a native of Italy, helped craft Florio’s Italian menu. For more, click here.  

In the foreword of his debut cookbook, Chef Joey Maggiore is described as “vibrant, entertaining and as wild as they get.” That’s certainly reflected in the 70 recipes featured in his “Brunch King: Eats, Beats, and Boozy Drinks,” which will be out in September. Maggiore is the driving force behind The Maggiore Group and Hash Kitchen, located in Arizona, Utah and Texas. His cookbook includes recipes such as Ten-Layer Breakfast Lasagna, Crème Brulée French Toast Sticks, Blue Corn Bananas Foster Pancakes, Carnitas Hash and Gnocchi Carbonara Hash, as well as a variety of inventive cocktails. For more, click here.   …

The skies above the Chicago lakefront will be painted green, white and red this month when the Frecce Tricolori pays an aerial visit. The legendary military aerobatic team will put on a show at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, to the east of Navy Pier, followed by a reservations-only reception. The event is being hosted by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, which will provide bus transportation to and from the event. The JCCIA will host several other events in conjunction with the visit. “In the same vein as America’s Blue Angels, there’s nothing that says Italian pride …

One of the most thrilling and glamorous events in the Chicago-area Italian-American community is the contest to determine who will reign as La Bella Regina of the Columbus Day Parade. “Few events in the community can match the pageantry of the annual Columbus Day Queen pageant,” says Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. “The queen will be the star of the Italian community for a year’s reign.” Sponsored by the JCCIA, this year’s pageant will be held at 1 p.m. on July 21 at the Des Plaines Theatre. The event will be chaired by Rose …

The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish will celebrate the 131st anniversary of its devotion to the Blessed Mother on July 14. Festivities will begin with a 7:30 a.m. Mass in English and a 9 a.m. solemn Mass in Italian, followed by a procession with the statue of the Blessed Mother to a noon field Mass. A procession through the streets of the parish afterward will culminate in a 4 p.m. benediction. The Sicilian Band of Chicago and Caliendo’s Banda Napoletana will perform during both processions, and food and beverages will be available for purchase during the day. A 7:30 …

At 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 10, the Italian American Veterans Museum will present a revealing documentary about the treatment of Italian citizens living in the United States during World War II. During the war, the U.S government restricted the actions and freedoms of 600,000 Italian residents of the United States. All were declared “Enemy Aliens,” and many were placed under curfew, banned from their workplaces, evacuated from their homes and communities, and even placed in internment camps. The documentary “Potentially Dangerous: When It Was A Crime To Be Italian” tells the gripping story of the devastating impact these measures …

The National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini will honor the life and legacy of America’s first saint with a birthday Mass at 4 p.m. on July 13. The shrine is located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood in a building that once housed Columbus Hospital. Cabrini and her Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus built the hospital as well as Assumption School on the Near Northwest Side and the Columbus Hospital Extension on the Near West Side. By the time she passed away at Columbus Hospital in 1917, she had established 67 schools, hospitals and orphanages around the …

The Justinian Society of Lawyers held its 22nd annual Children’s Endowment Fund grant reception on March 14 at Luxbar in Chicago. Justinian President Michael Pisano and Endowment Fund Chairman Frank Sommario presented a total of $10,000 in CEF grants at the event to Almost Home Kids and La Casa Norte. Additional donations were made from the floor by Justinian members and other guests in attendance. On hand to accept the grants were Jose Muñoz of La Casa Norte and Raeann Olsen-Jackson of Almost Home Kids. “The Justinian Society is fervent in continuing to give back to our community and we …