Little Italy is for Wine Lover's!

Two great wine events charm Little Italy's Rocco's this week and CiaoDC.com  has the invite for you!  Indulge in a 'Wine Social' at Rocco's with tastings of port, cheese & chocolate Wednesday, February 27th, 7 pm.  Featured Ports will include Fonseca, Taylor Fladgate & Croft. Enjoy Port cocktails, sample 100 years of Port, cheese & chocolate.  Stay for dinner and recieve 20% off dinner check!  All attendees to recieve a $25 gift card for future use!  $25 admission. Please RSVP Limited space available.  Later this week at Rocco's enjoy a special 5-course wine dinner at the Rocca Della Macie Wine Dinner on Friday March 1, 2013 7pm, $85.00 Per Person. To RSVP or for event menu, click here.  Salute e Buon Appetito!

Celebrate Commedia dell'Arte Day with the 'Fools!

Monday, February 25th is International Commedia dell’Arte Day. Performances, conferences, lectures, and workshops will simultaneously occur in cities around the world as theatre companies, scholars, students, and audiences celebrate this unique form of theatre.

This worldwide festival is promoted by the Italian cultural association SAT and organized by

Faction of Fools using viral and grassroots tools, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

To celebrate, join DC's Commedia dell'Arte Troupe, Faction of Fools for a masked weekend of theatre:

Plays on the American Mask:

four comic scenes that explore American identity

Saturday, February 23rd at 7:00 pm

Monday, February 25th at 7:30 pm
**ASL interpreted**

as part of the Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival Creating a Connection through Innovative Art Lab 2 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

Click HERE for tickets!

For more information, visit Faction of Fools' website.

Frappe Recipe from Mangia Dolce! Cookbook

Carnevale, Italy's magical version of mardi gras, is traditionally celebrated in Italy 40 days before Easter. Carnevale is one of Italy's biggest festivals. Masquerade reveling, partying and, of course, eating is a part of this annual celebration.  To kick off the Carnival festivities here in DC, CiaoDC would like to share a "Frappe" recipe from Pasticcere, Italian Pastry Chef, Nicola Tarallo of Gaeta, Italy from his collection of Italian home-cooked sweets, Mangia Dolce!  Frappe, or as refferred to by Ada Boni, "Lover's Knot" are the best known Carnival pastries. When preparing and enjoying this dessert, may the drama come alive in you all!  Buon Appetito e Buon Divertimento!

FRAPPE

Prep Time: 40 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Makes about 60 frappe

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups cake flour

4 eggs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons white wine

A pinch of salt

Zest of 1 lemon, grated

Oil for deep frying

Confectioners sugar for dusting

PREPARATION:
Mix together the flour, eggs, sugar, butter, wine, salt and grated zest in a large mixing bowl. Use a fork until the dough begins to stick together, and then use your hands to mix thoroughly.Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead until it becomes homogeneous. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rest for about an hour. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Use a cutting wheel to cut the dough into strips about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long.  Fry the pastry strips a few at a time in very hot oil until crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and let the frappe drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining dough.  Transfer onto a serving plate or platter, and dust with confectioners sugar.

Tony LoBianco is Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in "The Little Flower"

MNA Productions, Inc., proudly announces that Tony Lo Bianco will bring his award-winning performance as Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in THE LITTLE FLOWER to Washington D.C. and New York City this winter. The D.C. premiere will include special performances for members of the United States House and Senate, the Wounded Warriors Foundation and the Embassy of Italy in the United States. THE LITTLE FLOWER will then return to New York for a 16-performance run.

On Thursday, February 22, 2013, Claudio Bisogniero, the Ambassador of Italy to the United States, will host a special presentation of THE LITTLE FLOWER at the Italian Embassy as part of the “Year of Italian Culture in the United States”. On Monday, February 25, Lo Bianco will perform THE LITTLE FLOWER at the U.S. Navy Memorial’s Roberta Burke Theater for an audience of wounded veterans, members of the United States House and Senate and the general public. $35 tickets for the U.S. Navy Memorial performance on February 26 are available by emailing Chris Schembra at tonylobo@aol.com.


Tony Lo Bianco is an award-winning actor, writer, director, and producer who has had the privilege to collaborate with many of the brightest creative minds in the performing arts, both past and present, throughout his distinguished career. CiaoDC interviews Tony LoBianco on his passion as a playwright, politico and - of course - an Italian American.  Listen here for interview. Exclusive CiaoDC.com Interview Here.