Italy

'Family Guy' Ring in L.A. Area Smuggled Cocaine To Italy, Feds Say

If you thought the Southern California economy was still wobbly following the Great Recession, rejoice. People are actually exporting goods from L.A. to the rest of the world, including Europe. The U.S. Attorney's Office today announced that nine enterprising suspects, including a pair of brothers ... More >>

Sotto: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

Q & A With Nigella Lawson: On Her New Cookbook Nigellissima, The Taste, And Whether There's Too Much Food on TV

As always, Nigella Lawson has a lot of balls in the air. Her new show The Taste with Anthony Bourdain, Ludu LeFebre and Brian Malarky, has turned out to be quite a hit. At the same time, she's just released her 9th cookbook, Nigellissima, which celebrates the flavors of Italy. We sat down with her o ... More >>

If You Want My Body (of Work) ...

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: New York City Is a Helluva a Town

KCRW Broadcast #189 for Saturday, November 10, 2012 See also: *The American People Kicked Your Ass, Republicans *Henry Rollins: Sandy, the Incredible Mood Swing of Mother Nature Fanatics! Tonight is a great one. I am in NYC this week, so I thought a show that was NYC-based would be just the thing ... More >>

Q & A With Faith H. Willinger: Chef, Author Patron Saint of the Tostapane

A few months ago, a friend returned home from Italy with a gift for us. When we first unwrapped it, we were totally befuddled. "What is this,?" we wondered. "Is it a paddle for badminton on Mars? A space shuttle heat shield with a handle? A fan for a robot Geisha?" As it turns out, it was for maki ... More >>

Euripides' Helen Adapted for the Kardashian Era, and Other New Theater Reviews

This week our critics liked Euripides' Helen at the Getty Villa, adapted for today's celebrity age, plus the new Groundlings Sunday night show, the 24th Street Theatre's play Rome at the End of the Line, and a new political dance performance from the Indian company Navarasa Dance Theatre. In our th ... More >>

Spaghetti Westerns at the Egyptian and Aero Theaters

75: Porcetto at Sotto

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 4), we'll be counting down, in no particular order, 100 of our favorite dishes. 75: Porcetto at Sotto. Porchetta is one of those dishes that, once you've tried it, tends to feature prominently in recurrent dreams. The same genre of dream a ... More >>

Woody Allen on His New Film To Rome With Love and Some Very Old Themes

Checking in on Francis Ford Coppola's New Italian Hotel: Palazzo Margherita, Basilicata A Pasta-Making Video

Getting the right people to run things in a new restaurant or hotel is key. And when you've got a world-famous director running things, you can bet he's gonna get his casting right the first time around. Francis Ford Coppola is no newbie to the hotel biz. His exotic resorts in Belize, Guatemala and ... More >>

Painter with a camera

Garofalo: The Italian Pasta in Woody's New Film, To Rome with Love

There are movies where food has a starring role. And then there are times when eating is just another extra in the background. But when detail-minded Woody Allen shot his newest film To Rome with Love, no morsel was left to chance. As with any Italian-based film, eating looms large (that's what peo ... More >>

Q & A with Drew Barrymore: L.A. Cravings, Dying Art Forms & Barrymore Wines

Drew Barrymore perks up when we start talking about Baja's wine country -- a topic that seems to be on everyone's lips since Anthony Bourdain declared it the new Tuscany. "That sounds so cool!" she says excitedly on the other end of the phone. "All I do is sit around and research what food adventure ... More >>

Italian Wine Pairings for Thanksgiving

Why not try an Italian wine with Thanksgiving dinner? Consider that most L.A. Thanksgiving dinners break away from the traditional heavier dishes of the East Coast and Midwest. It's highly doubtful that the cousins in Kansas are serving anything akin to Ammo's take home menu, featuring charcuterie p ... More >>

Neo-Realism at UCLA

... and the birth of the docu-fiction aesthetic

The Italian American Museum's 3rd Annual Taste of Italy

A. Trachta​ For carb-lovers in Los Angeles, a great day is nearing. On October 1st, the Italian American Museum will host its 3rd Annual Taste of Italy at the 1869 Pico House and its cobblestone plaza. More than 50 restaurants will invade a tiny portion of L.A. for a day, but should pack big, ... More >>

Il Fico: Pugliese Cooking Comes to L.A.

F. FriesemaJonagold apples​ Puglia, the sliver of Southern Italy often described as the heel of the boot, is home to some of the most distinctive cooking in Italy, a plain, solid, vegetable-intensive cuisine thrumming with the strong flavors of olives and garlic, rapini and favas, wild greens. ... More >>

Exclusive Interview: Sublime with Rome Talks New Album Yours Truly, Tour and a Slice of Humble Pie

Jena ArdellChilling with Rome, Eric and Bud of Sublime with Rome.​ We caught up with Sublime with Rome before they embarked on their summer tour with 311 to talk about their new album Yours Truly, which drops July 12. Here's what the laid-back trio had to say about their new album, their first ... More >>

Cookbook Review: The Glorious Pasta of Italy, Including This Fettuccine Recipe

​Sure, we probably don't need another pasta cookbook. But The Glorious Pasta of Italy by Domenica Marchetti is pretty hard to pass up -- and we have a lot of Italian cookbooks in our library. Marchetti grew up in New Jersey on handmade ravioli (her mother is from Abruzzo). And so she spends ... More >>

Viva Vino LA: Italian Wines Flood Los Angeles

Lisa MattsonChianti, Italy's Castello de Volpaia is one of 130 wineries pouring at Viva Vino LA​There's much more to Italian wine than Pinot Grigio. The number one U.S. import is only one of the 3,000 kinds of grape varieties that grow on the Italian peninsula. Learn about the many others this ... More >>

'Fame is Love': Mark Kostabi Premieres Con Artist, Waxes About Italian Living and Infamy

Having pushed a bevy of buttons back in the late '80s, earning himself fame, fortune and fans, all of which came at a price, the self-proclaimed 'World's Biggest Con Artist' is back and coming to a theater near you, whether you like it or not. Directed by Michael Sladek, Con Artist reveals an intima ... More >>

Book Review: Eataly L.A. May Still Be Iffy But Joe Bastianich's Grandi Vini Is Solid

​With all the rumors about Joe Bastianich and Eataly L.A. last week, we thought it a fine time to check in on Bastianich's latest book, Grandi Vini: An Opinionated Tour of Italy's 89 Finest Wines. Bastianich is, as the book's press release reminds us, "co-owner of twenty [mostly Italian] rest ... More >>

A Recipe From The Chef: Lidia Bastianich's Genovese Style Stuffed Vegetables

Lidia Cooks From The Heart Of ItalyStuffed Vegetables​If you've been following our 2-part interview with Lidia Bastianich -- a car chase, rather, as she dialed us up from a cab right after landing at LAX -- you've already heard the high priestess of Italian cuisine bless Sunday family suppers, ... More >>

Book Review: Italy Dish by Dish, Airfare Not Required

​How often do we pre-order books these days? Hardly ever, as the book market is so flooded with new and "gently used" copies today we aren't exactly worried that Italy Dish By Dish: A Comprehensive Guide To Eating in Italy is going to sell out as quickly as LudoBites reservations when it is re ... More >>

Q & A With John Pankow: Showtime's "Episodes," Illicit Guanciale and A Proper English Fry-Up

Eleanore PankowJohn Pankow​ You may remember John Pankow from his role as Paul Reiser's everpresent cousin Ira Buchman on the nineties' sit-com "Mad About You" or perhaps you've been watching him steal scenes as Merc Lapidus, the power-obsessed, manipulative and wholly oblivious television ne ... More >>

Saveur Foodie Giveaway 2011: Did You Forget?

Saveur​ We hate decreasing our odds of winning a Wüsthof cleaver or a Le Creuset baking dish, but we'd be remiss if we didn't remind you that Saveur is in the midst of its annual Foodie Giveaway. The contest, which kicked off on January 1st and runs through the end of February, features a g ... More >>

Obika: When Not in Rome ...

Bringing the mozzarella bar to L.A.

The Thursday Edition: A Roundup of Newspaper Food Stories

SapphireBlue22stack of newspapers​What's the country reading today food-wise? Here's a roundup of some of the food-related stories from other newspapers, many of which print their food sections mid-week. And remember, even if you don't actually buy papers these days (or not; this paper is free ... More >>

Here's Heaven: A Five-Hour Italian Food Tasting

Taste of Italy​ What could be closer to paradise than five hours straight of tasting all the Italian food you ever dreamed of? And sipping a little (or a lot of) Italian wine? This isn't a dream. It's the program for A Taste of Italy October 16th at the historic Italian Hall in downtown Los ... More >>

First Bite: Okiba's Mozzarella Bar, or When Not In Rome

Christie BishopJonagold apple, portions removed​In Rome, Obika is a mozzarella bar on Piazza di Firenze, an oddly modern place not far from the Pantheon that reluctantly serves as a tourist canteen during the day and then as a frosty, rather exclusive wine bar late at night. There has always b ... More >>

Mushroom Fatalities Hit Northern Italy

A. ScattergoodMaitake mushrooms at Clearwater Farms​ If you want to find mushrooms in this town, your best bet is probably to keep your foraging to Clearwater Farms' farmers market stall rather than look for them yourself. And if you're foraging for wild mushrooms in Italy, you might want to s ... More >>

Q & A With Rustic Canyon Chef Evan Funke, Part 2: Duct Tape as Kitchen Tool, Pasta-making in Italy Home Again

Yesterday we left off the first part of our interview with Rustic Canyon executive chef Evan Funke when he was still at Spago, where he worked his way up the ranks during and after culinary school, and he'd just started telling us about not being able to walk anymore when we stopped. Sorry. Consider ... More >>

Getty States It Will Continue To Fight For Great Bronze Statue

Getty MuseumStatue of the Victorious Youth.​The J. Paul Getty Trust stated Thursday it will appeal an Italian court's order to return the 2,000-year-old bronze Statue of the Victorious Youth. The ancient Greek statue, which once belonged to Italian owners, is on view at the Getty Villa Malibu ... More >>

Get Ready For World Nutella Day & Our Top 10 List of Nutella Restaurant Dishes

Tomorrow, drumroll please, is World Nutella Day. Okay, this is one of those holidays (Arbor Day, National Cream Puff Day) that may seem arbitrary and slightly ridiculous at first, when in fact it is a serious vindication for some of us. In 2007, two American ex-pat writers living in Italy, Sara Ros ... More >>

Nothing But Truffle: The Truffle Brothers, LA's Italian Truffle Connection

Some people grow up around sports, academics, or the arts. For Michael and Marco Pietroiacovo--two brothers from Campobosso, Italy--their upbringing was around truffles. As children, their grandfather showed them how to forage for the elusive tuber in the hills around Abruzzo, Italy. As teens they s ... More >>

The Need to Know

20-20-20 Vison: Cube Offering 20 Wines from 20 Regions of Italy for 20 Days

Barbara HansenMany Italian wines will be offered at Cube in the month of September.​Get ready to armchair travel, wine glass in hand, at Cube Café and Marketplace on La Brea Avenue. Starting September 8, Cube will pour 20 wines from 20 regions of Italy in 20 days. It's to celebrate winning ... More >>

Riva: Stuzzichini This, Stuzzichini That

For Your Bar or Bat Mitzvah

Crudo Bar & Ristorante: Getting Raw on the Strip

The Italian mood is swell, but why so little crudo?

DIY MTV: Music Videos Struggle to Keep Up With YouTube

Nomadaz: Street Art from Spain and Italy at Scion

Pablo Aravena curated the new show at Scion Space in Culver City. Nomadaz brings together eight street artists from Italy and Spain, including Microbo, Eltono, Sixe,, Bo130 and more. Above, three pieces by Dem from Italy: cat sculpture Il Cavaliere and paintings on cardboard Libero and Sara Ka ... More >>

Hark! the Herald Pipers Play

USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia makes a joyful noise

Terroni: That's Italian!

Recalling the Old Country, quirks and all

Slab City

On the meat trail, a lardo dream

Tough Guys, Effete Snobs and Mad Women

Introducing Europa Editions

“I Hate Summer.”

The Pocko Collection

A Perfect Pop Plan