Food

More than 80 people gathered for the first annual Festa della Sopressata competition at the North American Pizza & Culinary Academy in Lisle. Hosted by NAPCA founder and master instructor Leo Spizzirri and his partner, founder and chef instructor Anthony Iannone, the four-hour event was as much of a party for friends and family of the 19 competitors as it was a serious tournament for the best homemade sopressata. Judges included Frank DeCicco of the Calabresi In America Organization. “I was honored to be selected and humbled by the passion every contestant showed for maintaining this great Calabrese tradition,” DeCicco …

Street food has been a staple of cuisines around the world for generations, and the trend has finally reached American shores. Leading the charge on behalf of the street food of Sicily is Elio Bartolotta of Elio Pizza on Fire and Elio Café. “Sicilian street food represents our tradition, our roots, our soul,” Bartolotta says. “We want to share that soul with America.” On the street side of Bartolotta’s menu are pane e panelle, a sandwich stuffed with fried herbed chickpea meal; caponata siciliana, an antipasto featuring eggplant, capers and olives in a sweet-and-sour red sauce; and pani câ meusa, …

Buona Beef recently opened for business at 804 W. Washington Blvd., bringing the family-run fast-food chain’s total locations to 24. “We’re thrilled to be a part of the vibrant West Loop community,” says second-generation owner Joe Buonavolanto Jr. “Our new location is steeped in Chicago tradition: a fitting way to continue the city’s great Italian beef tradition.” Founder Joe Buonavolanto Sr. took out a second mortgage on his home to open the family’s first restaurant in Berwyn in 1981. Today, Buona is the official Italian beef of the Chicago Cubs and White Sox and is served at Cubs, Sox and …

Tony’s Fresh Market rang in its 40th year with the grand opening of a new grocery store in the Cermak Plaza Shopping Center in Berwyn. Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero and other city officials presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome Tony’s, which simultaneously shuttered its North Riverside location. The new Tony’s took over 71,500 square feet previously occupied by Meijer. The move marked a 25 percent increase over the North Riverside footprint and maintained Tony’s 15-store area-wide presence. Tony’s was founded in 1979 by Tony Ingraffia and Domenico Gambino, cousins from Ciminna, Sicily, who built a grocery empire from a …

The culinary coach of the U.S. Pizza Team took second place in a pizza championship held on Oct. 8 in Granada, Spain, while four other USPT members finished in the top 10. Gino Rago of Panino’s Pizza in Chicago took home second place in the Pizza Classica division, with Michael LaMarca (Master Pizza, Cleveland, Ohio), Jason Samosky (Samosky’s Homestyle Pizzeria, Valley City, Ohio) and Dave Sommers (Mad Mushroom, West Lafayette, Indiana) placing fourth, seventh and 10th respectively. Thirty-two competitors from around the world participated in the fourth annual Pizza por Pasión, organized by Antonia Ricciardi, president of the Università di …

“Outdoor” dining in the dead of winter? It shouldn’t be possible, but Jim & Pete’s has pulled it off. The iconic Elmwood Park eatery recently earned Outdoor Patio of the Year accolades after it bought a nearby building, demolished it and built a heated 1,000-square-foot addition that features a motorized, louvered roof and drop-shade windows that, at a touch of a button, can make the room comfortable in almost any weather. “This isn’t putting a tent up around a patio or unrolling canvas to block the rain; this is a completely convertible room,” says Jim Michael Bucchianeri, who co-owns the …

When you’re as passionate about Italy as Spacca Napoli owner Jonathan Goldsmith, frequent visits to the motherland are as gratifying as they are inevitable. “I go to conduct research or attend events with colleagues,” Goldsmith says, “and always to reconnect with people I care about and who have become family.” In October, he spent two weeks at the agriturismo Le Campestre outside of Naples, helping the Lombardi family pick olives and make wine. “I first met them in 2004,” he explains. “They are the producers of conciato romano, a pecorino that dates back 2,000 years.” As an executive producer of …

Chicago native Gianna Farago Tetrick recently was inducted into the Maggiano’s Hall of Fame for her philanthropic work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The non-profit organization that grants wishes to children with critical illnesses celebrated its 15th year partnering with the restaurant for the Eat-A-Dish campaign. Spearheaded by Farago Tetrick during her time as marketing director and carried on by the Maggiano staff since her departure, the program has raised more than $8 million dollars to date, granting more than 1,100 wishes to children receiving treatment throughout the nation. Farago Tetrick, who says her desire to give back is driven by …

Some of my fondest holiday memories of my dad are of preparing dinner with him on Christmas Eve. We conjured up some pretty fabulous feasts, but a red sauce with perfectly tender calamari evaded us for years. We would sauté the squid first, soak it in milk, and simmer it in the sauce anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, but to no avail. Then I sampled the absolutely sublime calamari sauce at Freddy’s in Cicero and I had to know their secret. “Simmer it longer,” said Joe Quercia, who runs Freddy’s with his wife, Ann Marie, “and buy East Coast …

You wouldn’t know by its name, but House of Cakes in Park Ridge has deep Italian roots. Owned and operated by Gerardo and Marie Nigro since 1987, the tiny storefront is a cornucopia of cannoli, pizza, focaccia, sfogliatelle, cuccidati and more, as well as wedding cakes and a host of American pastries and baked goods. Tortes, coffee cakes, donuts, cookies, strudels and breads fill their shelves to capacity, and all of their butter cookies are made with real butter. Seasonal favorites include pumpkin, apple and cherry pie as well as pumpkin and apple slices. By far their most popular items …