By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno It was at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, circa 1964, that owner Teresa Bellissimo created the now famous Buffalo chicken wings. As the story goes, she received a large order of chicken wings from a supplier a...

The amount of varieties really depends on how passionate you are or want to be about it, as well as the volume of your business. I would not sell them all by the glass unless you have a fairly small list. Otherwise, you’ll have some wines spoil...

Fontina and Asiago are two important Italian cheeses, and both are fortunate enough to carry a dual citizenship. Born in Italy –– fontina in the Piedmont, Asiago in the Veneto –– they have been successfully replicated in the U...

Molten lava cake –– you gotta love the name. But to shower even more love on that name, put the word “chocolate” in front of it. This beauty of this cake has been kicking around for a while, but it hasn’t lost any of its...

Considering the fact that sausage is the second most popular pizza topping, it’s interesting that all too often we take this major money maker for granted. And because sausage is one of the most popular topping requests, we should be doubly sure th...

Never look down on the idea of stick food as an appetizer option. Children and adults alike love stick food –– it’s fun, easy to eat, something a bit different. Stick food is here to stay. I have written about fried mozzarella sticks for Pizza ...

One of the features of a menu in many Italian restaurants is the antipasto platter. In one form or another, and with any number of ingredients, it has a lot of appeal, and it is especially inviting for family dining when everybody gets to take part i...

Let’s go back in time to May of 1889. We find Queen Margherita and her husband, King Umberto I, being served pizza at the palazzo in Naples where they are staying. The king and queen had heard about the famous pizzas of Naples, so naturally the...

There are some vegetables that you simply must peel to consume. The beautiful eggplant however, can be eaten, skin and all. It boils down to personal preference. Once you realize the health benefits from the eggplant’s skin, your peeler may nev...

Scamorza is the Rodney Dangerfield of cheeses –– it gets no respect. But it should –– this is a cheese that restaurant owners should take a hard look at. Just the idea of offering, say, a specialty pizza using scamorza will ge...

> If we extend the logic that sausage is one of the most popular pizza toppings and that bacon is a pork product, then there’s no good reason why bacon shouldn’t be pursued with more vigor when an array of pizza toppings are menu listed. ...

The appetizer section of menus has been taking a beating in the many Chicago restaurants I visit every day in my role as chief restaurant critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. I see customers moving away from expensive appetizers (and, believe me, t...