Fra Noi

Founded in 2022 by a former McDonald’s executive and his family, Lantern Pizza Co. at 1420 Ogden Ave. in Downers Grove has developed such a following that it expanded over the summer, enclosing a patio to add 65 more seats to the 38-seat eatery, the Daily Herald reported. Former McDonald’s Executive Chef and Vice President of Culinary Innovation Dan Coudreaut said he embarked on his pizza venture because he missed the immediacy of making food for people in front of him.

Pelago Cafe, an Italian spot that recently opened at 325 Waukegan Ave. in north suburban Highwood, celebrates a family’s heritage and culinary traditions based in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. The cafe is owned by cousins Mada Ugolini-Hitchmough and Ruthie Amidei, and its name honors two neighboring towns, Sant’Anna Pelago and Pievepelago, “where generations of family, food and tradition shaped the values carried forward today,” the business’ website states.

The Italian-American restaurant Void, located at 2937 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago, was among the Chicago Tribune’s 2026 Critic’s Choice winners. Void is best known on social media for its Spaghetti Uh-O’s, which comes in a can with a custom label, and is made with imported pasta topped with house-made sauce that’s been slowly cooked for six hours, the Chicago Tribune reported.

One hundred years after the bestselling cookbook “The Talisman of Happiness” was first published in Italy, the full English translation of its nearly 1,700 recipes is now available. Its author was chef, cooking instructor and magazine writer Ada Boni (1891-1973), who unified the culinary traditions of Italy’s 20 regions for the first time. In 1915, she and her husband founded the food magazine Preziosa, and a few years later Boni opened a cooking school for aristocratic Roman women.

A recent meeting of the Arcolian Dental Arts Society at Casa Italia The Arcolian Dental Arts Society board unanimously voted to hold most of its 2026-2027 meetings at Casa Italia in Stone Park. “It’s conveniently located for our membership, but more significantly, we feel it’s important to support the Casa by having our meetings at this historic venue, our cultural center,” says Arcolian President Dr. Charles Martello.

Fragomeni accepts his award from National Association of Pastoral Musicians board member Meyer Chambers and Executive Director Jennifer Kluge. Fr. Richard Fragomeni, the rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, has been known for weaving in stories about his mother and father into his homilies and using Italian traditions during Mass, but one thing he is most passionate about is the gift of music in Mass.

The Flight of the Angels at the Feast of Maria SS. Lauretana The Global Penitent, a Substack blog focused on Catholic history and traditions, has ranked the Feast of Maria SS. Lauretana among the top 10 Italian feasts in the country. “A distinctive feature is the ‘Flight of the Angels,’ a tradition brought from Sicily dating back centuries,” the post notes. “This dramatic ceremony has become the feast’s signature event.

Local News 2 Views Michelle DiSilvestro Michelle DiSilvestro has been named senior attorney at the Chicago-based law firm of Romanucci & Blandin. In that role, she focuses her practice on medical malpractice and other complex catastrophic-injury matters, including wrongful death and serious personal-injury cases.

Cook County Forest Preserves General Superintendent Adam Bianchi U.S. Forest Service veteran Adam Bianchi has been appointed general superintendent of the Forest Preserves of Cook County following nomination by Forest Preserves President Toni Preckwinkle and approval by the Board of Commissioners.

Cirilli with graduates of the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral School Now the principal of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral School in Chicago, Anna Cirilli owes her desire to pursue a career in school leadership to the overcrowding in Chicago public schools. Cirilli worked as a teacher for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades at Marcus Garvey Elementary School from 2000 to 2012. Her last year there, she taught a class of 38 students with no assistance.