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Typically a spring event in the past, the Italian Community Center's annual A Taste of Italy food-focused fundraiser shifted to October in 2024.
This year, the event – long held in April with Festa following in July (now that Festa has returned to the Summerfest grounds it kicks off the festival season in spring) – takes place on Sunday, Sept. 7.
This longstanding tradition at the ICC, 631 E. Chicago Ave., is set for 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
A Taste of Italy is run entirely by ICC volunteers, and helps support the Italian Community Center.
As always, there will be a 50/50 raffle and musical entertainment in Festa Hall, but the food will be the real star.
Familiar favorites will be back, including meatballs, stuffed shells, eggplant spiedini, pizza, sausage sandwiches, pasta with marinara sauce, Italian beef sandwiches, sfincione (Sicilian-style pizza), arancini (rice balls), pizelle made on-site, Italian cookies, cannoli, tiramisu, gelato and more.
Vegetarian and gluten-free options will be available, too.
Tickets are $1 and samples vary in price, with most costing between $2 and $4. Coffee and water are $1.
The lower price point allows for more flexibility in pricing and consequently the prices of numerous items have gone down this year.
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. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
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 been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
