Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
The Triton College Alumni Association has inducted River Forest chocolatier Madonna Fantetti Slepicka and TV/radio journalist Michele Fiore into its Alumni Hall of Fame. The honor is awarded to individuals who have made a significant impact on their profession, community and beyond.
The owner of River Forest Chocolates, Fantetti Slepicka returned to Triton to take culinary classes after earning a Bachelor of Science in business from Eastern Illinois University. A chocolate-making class with chef Uzma Sharif set her on her current career path.
“Chef Uzma was a fantastic instructor and was a second-generation chocolatier,” Fantetti Slepicka says. “She sparked my passion for chocolate.”
In 2010, Fantetti Slepicka rented a commercial kitchen in Melrose Park and began baking in earnest. With support from the village of River Forest, she opened a brick-and-mortar storefront with a commercial kitchen in 2011 and expanded to her current, larger location in 2018.
An on-air reporter for CBS58 in Milwaukee, Fiore studied journalism at Triton, serving as editor-in-chief of the college’s 5th Avenue Journal while working part-time at WRRG-AM, Triton TV and Elmwood Park Cable Television News.
After Triton, she attended Northern Illinois University, where she majored in broadcast journalism and minored in women’s studies. Since graduating, she has worked as an anchor and reporter in both radio and television for stations in Chicago, Springfield and Decatur before assuming her current position in Milwaukee.
