According to an application filed with the city's Office of the City Clerk's License Division, Dean Cannestra, Tina Conley and Mary Howard have requested a liquor license for the old Palermo Villa restaurant space at 2315 N. Murray Ave.
Cannestra is the brother of Palermo Villa owner Kathy Mirenda and was long associated with the restaurant (as well as with the now-closed Libiamo in Brewers Hill and Nessun Dorma in Riverwest). According the application, which is still pending, the license is requested in the name of Bar Romano, though one source who asked not to be named, suggested that name may simply be a "placeholder."
I wrote with sadness in July of Palermo Villa's closing. I explained in that posting why Palermo Villa was a restaurant that has had a personal significance for me, and I'm pleased to hear it will reopen.
It appears that some renovations are currently underway in the space.
A message to Cannestra has not yet been returned but when I talk to him and get more information, I promise to pass it along. But I know Milwaukee – or at the very least East Siders – couldn't wait to hear the news!
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
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