After the Salone del Mobile celebrated the best in design at Milan’s fiera and throughout the city, the fashion centre of Italy is now preparing itself for the 2011 Milano Food Week. Plenty of events open to the public will be available to taste the best in regional Italian cooking, including special menus and Italian cocktails on offer, and cooking classes and demonstrations.

If you’re really interested, you can become part of the Milano Food Lovers association, getting a special pass costing €15 and exclusive access to the events and discounts during the food week. More than 200 Milan restaurants and bars will be participating, so there is plenty to see - and eat!

The Milano Food Week runs from May 7 to May 15 and you can find all the various events - wine tastings, cooking demonstrations and happy hour in Milan - at the Milano Food Week website.

Video | You Tube

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Milan’s famous canals - the Navigli area - are full of water again after a month of being dry. If you’re enjoying some Milan nightlife you’ll be able to get back to this popular spot for a drink or two without having to hold your nose. The Navigli area is home to fashionable bars, a cycling path and a rowing club but about twice a year the Milanese canals are emptied.

During the emptying of the canals, that lasts for about a month, maintenance and cleaning works are carried out but it’s not the best spot to be for your Italian happy hour. When dry, the canals are a picture of urban decay which doesn’t accurately reflect this fashionable and well-known spot in the city.

As spring takes off in Italy, for tourists visiting Milan and the Milanese themselves, the water back in the canals means we can once again enjoy one of the more romantic settings the city offers. You’ll see rowers out on the canals and people cycling past most likely as you enjoy a Milanese aperitif in one of the bars. This atmosphere will take us to April 10th and the colourful festival of Fiori sul Naviglio.

Source | 02blog

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Marco Carta’s new album Il Cuore Muove or The Heart Moves will hit stores on 25 May.
According to our sources, the album contains a mysterious duet with a famous female singer whose identity is still top secret (some suggest Alessandra Moroso, others Emma Marrone)! The Internet has been abuzz over this song since the news leaked to the press!! Unfortunately there’s no way to find out who this mysterious artist is (sorry that you must wait until the album comes out)!! But in the meanwhile you can console yourself by listening to Quello che dai , the first single released from the album!

Continue reading: Marco Carta's new single "Quello Che Dai" from "Il Cuore Muove"

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Cheap eats in Rome can be found, you’ve just got to know where to look. Rome nightlife is full of fantastic restaurants and bars if you’re furnished with a little local knowledge, and we’ve just discovered an all-you-can-eat beer bar right in the middle of the Trastevere district.

For a fixed price you can eat at the Trilussa birreria in via Benedetta - 15 euros will get you the non stop menu. Make sure you bring hungry friends because the first courses are fantastic and this is all about eating what’s in front of you. If you can’t manage, pass it to someone else in the group.

If you’re looking for something more traditionally Italian, other Rome restaurants have pizza with a set price and all the beer you want. In San Lorenzo you’ll find Mamarò where ten euros will get you all the pizza and beer you want, and the same goes for Giubileo in via Palermo, Monti area with pizza at ten euros and pasta at 15 euros.

Other options for eating lots and spending little in Rome are at Olio, sale e pepe in via D. Da Empoli 15, and Pizzamia in viale Tirreno 67. If you’re a bit out of town, at Castel di leva there’s Merlo parlante in via F.Cassitto 45 which also has fixed price dinner deals.

Photo | Sara Regimenti

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A bar in Naples is serving up a new take on Italian coffee, called the “caffé al bacio”. “Bacio” means ‘kiss’ in Italian, and much like the bacio gelato flavour, this involves using Italy’s premier hazelnut spread, Nutella.

The caffé al bacio uses a brandy glass with the inside coated in nutella, adding a shot of espresso coffee and some milk foam on the top, sprinkled with cocoa. It’s an even more elaborate version of the “marocchino” coffee, which is a bit like our mocha combining chocolate and coffee.

You can find the caffe al bacio at the Intra Moenia bookstore-coffee shop in Piazza Bellini, Naples. According to Italian Notebook, the bar is just down from the music conservatory so that sometimes you’re treated to a free musical concert in the form of practicing notes of music drifting down the street.

Source | ItalianNotebook.com

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If you’re looking for great happy hour in Rome, try the American Bar Ballantine’s when next you’re in the eternal city. It’s located on via Salvatore di Giacomo, 19/23 and has jumped on board the current trend of happy hour and aperitifs that many Italians are now enjoying as essential part of their Saturday night out.

Ballantine’s serves food with aperitifs from 6pm to midnight every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, including hot pasta buffet, for about ten euros a head. You should consider this your drink and dinner all in one - we certainly don’t recommend backing up for food at a restaurant somewhere after this happy hour!

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The Rione Monti district has always been a world apart from the other areas of Rome; even its dialect was slightly different from the one spoken in the city. In order to make room for the famous Via dei Fori, the Rione Monti district, which is rather small if compared to other areas of the eternal city, was dramatically altered during the fascist period. But despite this rather dramatic change, the district tucked between via Nazionale and via Cavour, has kept intact all its enchanting beauty and this is thanks to its lovely narrow side-streets and superb examples of architecture which never fail to take your breath away. One of the District’s chief attractions remains the beautiful piazza Santa Maria dei Monti which features two imposing churches that deserve all your attention. Not too far away from it there’s the infamous Palazzo Borgia from which one can enjoy an amazing view of San Pietro in vincoli or Saint Peter in chains (a basilica best remembered for being home to Michelangelo’s famous statue Moses).

Continue reading: Discovering Rome: the Rione Monti district

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The San Lorenzo district appears to encapsulate both the beauty and the shortcomings of Rome; partly destroyed by aerial attack during World War 2, San Lorenzo has, over the years, developed into a district of beautiful contrasts where old and new abide - more or less harmoniously - together. Originally built to house workers and their families (when Mussolini marched on Rome, its inhabitants try to stop him) and situated in the shadow of the famous Varano, the monumental cemetery of Rome. Along the Aurelian walls, the district is teeming with life and colour. People are to be seen having breakfast - some still in a sleepy mood at such picturesque cafes as bar dei Belli, bar Marani and Buddha bar or eating, later in the day, at kebab shops. The chief attraction of the district remains its colourful morning market on Volsci street and when strolling among the stalls one can discover a myriad of interesting things, while the church of Santa Maria Immacolata, like a voice from the past, strikes the hour. After wandering around the market you can enjoy a fine pizza at Manna del Cielo on via Dei Latini street and then spend the rest of the afternoon at the Pifebo; a veritable paradise of a shop which sells vintage clothes, old records, items of bric-a-brac and various pieces of object d’art.

Continue reading: Touring Rome: the San Lorenzo district

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If you’ve been to Rome, you’ve probably toured the area of Garbatella without even knowing it. This area of Rome is home to the lovely basilica of St Paul’s outside the walls, or “San Paolo fuori le mura”. If you’ve never been, this is one Italian church you don’t want to miss for its stunning mosaics. There are many churches to visit in Rome, but if you’re prioritising this should sit somewhere high up the list.

The area of Garbatella has a mixed history, and no-one is really sure of the origin of the name. The most popular theory is that it was named after a woman, and a fountain in Piazza Ricoldo da Montecroce would seem to attest to this. The fountain has since been rebaptised “the fountain of lovers” and is topped by a statue of a woman.

The Garbatella district was originally a “garden city”, planned by the king in 1920 to house the workers that would be building the new city port. Much of the green space and small villas then gave way to fascist buildings and architecture. Using the old theatre cinemaTeatro Palladium as your landmark, you can almost lose yourself in this corner of Rome.

Continue reading: Exploring Rome's districts: Garbatella and St Paul's outside the walls

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After walking the Pigneto district in Rome to discover an avant garde area of the eternal city, scene of Roma città aperta and Bar Necci, you can continue your exploration of this district by going over the Aquila bridge and entering Casilina Vecchia.

Here is Rome’s artistic heart with the Circolo degli Artisti and l’INIT. The Circolo is one of Rome’s best live clubs for independent music, set in a large garden with two interior rooms and bars everywhere. Frequent DJs to the Circolo include “Screamadelica” and “Fish and Chips“.

The Circolo also hosts a shop selling CDs and t-shirts, and on Sundays is the location for a Japanese and vintage market in Rome. At the nearby pizzeria you can meet the musicians who perform here, to stay on the pulse of all there is to know about the Rome music scene.

Continue reading: Touring Rome: live music in the Pigneto district

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