A longtime aide to and confidante of the late, beloved Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Monsignor Kenneth Velo has leveraged his local and national connections in the Catholic Church to do a world of good for a host of worthy causes. About a year after being ordained a Catholic priest, then-Fr. Kenneth Velo was enthusiastically helping manage the large parish of St. Angela in Chicago, where he was associate pastor. Fellow churchmen saw something in the new priest and made a seemingly small move that changed the course of Velo’s life. Ordained for only two years, he was elected by his confreres …

Amaseno Lodge No. 3 of Chicago Heights hosted its 50th anniversary Feast of San Lorenzo and San Rocco from Aug. 9-11. The lodge was formed in 1913 by immigrants from Amaseno, a small farming village 60 miles south of Rome. Settling in Chicago Heights’ Hungry Hill Italian enclave, they brought with them a deep devotion to San Lorenzo, an early Christian leader who was martyred for his defiance of the Roman Empire. For decades, the spiritual center of Hungry Hill was San Rocco Church. Built on the highest point in the neighborhood and dedicated in 1906 to another of Amaseno’s …

Cook County Circuit Court Justice Regina Scannicchio has been elevated from acting presiding judge to presiding judge of the Domestic Relations Division by Chief Judge Timothy Evans. Scannicchio was named acting presiding judge on Sept. 23, 2022. She was first appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2011 after 23 years as a private domestic-relations attorney. Elected in 2012 and retained in 2018, she was assigned to the Domestic Relations Division in 2012. During her time as acting presiding judge, she focused on continuing education to keep pace with complex, multidisciplinary legal proceedings routinely heard in the …

Exciting news! Italy is reaching out like never before to reconnect with people of Italian heritage living throughout the world. Dubbed “Italea,” the program promotes “roots tourism” to the descendants of the great Italian diaspora. The local announcement of the program brought together leaders of the Chicago-area Italian-American community through the invitation of Italian Consul General Thomas Botzios; Com.It.Es President Carlo Vaniglia; and Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans President Ron Onesti. The June 14 reception was hosted by the JCCIA in the beautiful private dining room of the Des Plaines Theatre. Flying in to make the presentation was Luigi …

SLYCE Coal Fired Pizza Company now has a fourth location at 5500 N. River Road, inside the Embassy Suites hotel in Rosemont. SLYCE specializes in coal-fired pizzas, whose dough is mixed and fermented daily, and stretched by hand. Each pizza is cooked at more than 800 degrees, “just long enough to produce that classically crisp, leopard-spotted crust with a soft and chewy interior,” the company says. The menu features pizza, including build-your-own, plus salads, soups, chicken wings, sandwiches and desserts such as tiramisu and affogato. A late-night bar offers wine, beer and a variety of liquor. The mother-and-daughter team of …

Supermarkets in Italy are now stocking a new Nutella ice cream, launched in June by the confectionary superpower Ferrero. The ice cream version of the popular hazelnut-chocolate spread follows the 60th anniversary of the introduction of Nutella, which first went on sale in Italy on April 20, 1964. Nowadays, half a million tons of Nutella are sold around the world each year. “At Ferrero, we are always exploring new ways to surprise and delight our consumers, such as offering them the possibility to enjoy the unique taste of our beloved brands in the ice cream format,” a Ferrero spokesperson said. …

Pizza manufacturer Palermo’s is expanding its production capacity by building a nearly 200,000-square-foot production facility in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The new facility is located just 3 miles from the company’s headquarters. Groundbreaking is slated this month, with expected completion in June 2025. Palermo’s was founded in 1954 by Gaspare “Jack” Fallucca and his wife, Zina, who immigrated from Italy and opened an Italian bakery on Milwaukee’s East Side. The couple then opened a pizzeria and restaurant in 1969 and went into the frozen-food business in 1979.

Actress-turned-food expert Valerie Bertinelli has published her third cookbook, based on her resolution to end the battle with the scale. “Indulge: Delicious and Decadent Dishes to Enjoy and Share” is written in a “warmhearted and intimate style” with heartfelt essays about how to savor moments big and small, according to publisher HarperCollins. “Indulge” contains recipes Bertinelli cooks for her friends and family, including Garlic Confit BLT, Oven “Fried” Okra, Spaghetti al Limone, Salmon Burgers with Quick-Pickled Vegetables, Filet Mignon with Béarnaise Sauce, and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Dates. Bertinelli rose to fame as a teenager in the sitcom “One Day at a …

  “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 …