Thirty-One Days of Italians has released its 2025 List, honoring extraordinary people of Italian heritage who significantly influenced the history and development of America. The project was launched in 2006, with a list being provided annually for the month of October. The first day in October honors the Italian immigrant and the last day is set aside to honor someone not on the list. Honorary members are on the List every year and include Fr. Pietro Bandini, Constantino Brumidi, Mother Francis Cabrini, Enrico Caruso, Christopher Columbus, Enrico Fermi, Amadeo Pietro Giannini, Guglielmo Marconi, Filippo Mazzei, Antonio Meucci, Maria Montessori, Andrea Palladio, Antonio Pasin, …

A new Pompei restaurant opened last month in Elmwood Park, guided by the third generation of the family-owned Chicago staple. The original restaurant on Taylor Street in Little Italy started more than a century ago as a bakery that sold bread, cheese pizza and, later, pastries. In the 1980s, the menu expanded to include other varieties of pizza, plus sandwiches and “strudels” (similar to calzone). The new location at 22 Conti Parkway in Elmwood Park is a great fit because of the area’s deep connection to Little Italy, owner Ralph Davino told the Wednesday Journal. Many Italians settled in Elmwood …

The Elmhurst retail location of Lezza Spumoni & Desserts is celebrating its 10th year in the Chicago suburb, Food Industry News reported. The bakery started in Chicago’s Little Italy with a spumoni recipe brought from Italy by Salvatore Lezza in 1905. The business, which eventually moved to suburban Bellwood due to the need for more space, was later run by Salvatore’s son Victor. Today the business is in the hands of Ed Lezza Sr. (the family’s third generation) and nephew Louis (fourth generation). Opened in 2015, the Elmhurst store also features a cake-tasting room and a coffee bar that serves …

Roman chefs accused Britain’s leading recipe brand of bastardizing the famous cacio e pepe pasta dish, The Times reported this summer. The original recipe calls for combining black pepper and sharp Pecorino Romano, but Good Food published a recipe that added butter and featured Parmigiano Reggiano instead of Pecorino Romano. In a letter to Good Food and the British Embassy in Rome, chefs in the Italian capital complained about the move. “That’s like us coming to Britain and demanding the finest double malt whiskey mixed with lemonade,” said Claudio Pica, author of the letter and president of the Rome branch …

The cookbook “Milk Street Backroads Italy: Finding Italy’s Forgotten Recipes” features more than 140 recipes, along with explanations about their original techniques and the stories behind the dishes. Founded by Christopher Kimball, the co-founder of America’s Test Kitchen, Milk Street is a Boston media company that features a cooking school with in-person and online classes, a TV show, a magazine and a podcast. To create the cookbook, Milk Street editors “scoured small eateries, local markets, farms and home kitchens from Lombardy to Calabria and from Sardinia to Sicily in search of fresh takes on classic recipes as well as little-known …

The Italian American Police Association will honor Niles Police Chief Joseph Romano on Oct. 4 at Chateau Ritz in Niles. The IAPA will also honor Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department Chief of Police Leo Schmitz (Police Officer of the Year Award), Illinois Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President Chris Southwood (Lifetime Achievement Award), and attorney David Petrich and businessman and philanthropist Dr. Willie Wilson (Special Recognition Award). The following profile was provided by the IAPA. Niles Police Chief Joseph Romano Joseph Romano grew up in the Niles area and attended Nelson Elementary School and Gemini Junior High School in …

The Italian American Labor Council of Greater Chicago will honor labor leader Dan Allen on Oct. 11 at Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. Allen has served since 2013 as executive director of Construction Industry Service Corp., a labor-management association representing 140,000 union workers and 8,000 union contractors across six counties. He is the chair of the DuPage Workforce Development Board and serves on the board of the Chicago Building Congress, Choose DuPage, Workers Compensation Research Institute, and Gateway to Learning, which provides lifelong learning for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For event details, click here.    

by Elena Ferrarin and Doug Graham As a driving force behind Friends of the Uffizi Galleries, Lisa Marie Conte Browne has helped raise millions of dollars toward the restoration of the renowned art museum’s expansive collections. Visitors flock by the millions each year to the Uffizi Galleries in Florence to marvel at its vast and dazzling array of art. Opened in 1769, it is one of the largest and best-known art museums in the world, boasting one of the most expansive collection of works from the Italian Renaissance. The mission of Lisa Marie Conte Browne, president of Friends of the …

written by Lionel Bottari, illustrated by Jean Parisi Once, in the province of Lombardy, there lived a young couple, Bernio and Alchia. They fervently wanted to have a family, but the years went by without their wish being granted. Unwilling to give up their dream, they went to an orphanage and adopted one of the infants, who they named Fortunio. But as luck would have it, Alchia became pregnant some time afterward. This child, also a boy, they named Valentino. Until Valentino was born, Fortunio was the center of their attention, but as they grew older it became obvious to …

The Italian Heritage & Culture Committee of New York has chosen “Michelangelo, An Italian Genius” as its annual theme, in celebration of the 550th anniversary of the birth of the Renaissance master. For the rest of the year, the IHCC-NY will host, coordinate and publicize theme-related presentations, symposiums, exhibits, seminars, a student essay contest, proclamations at every level of government, and assorted tributes. Informational material including posters, bookmarks and booklets will be distributed free of charge to educational, cultural and public institutions. Founded in 1976, the IHCC-NY is a volunteer group of community leaders dedicated to promoting, presenting and preserving …