Celebrate Italian Heritage Month this year with Italian cuisine and festivities!

Every year, throughout the month of June, Vancouver and the rest of British Columbia celebrates Italian Heritage Month. This year is no exception with plenty of fun-filled events that have been taking place all month long, celebrating Italian culture.

Here in Vancouver, Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre has been celebrating Italian Heritage Month throughout June by providing activities and events that pay tribute to Italian heritage. As we wrap up this month, if you have yet to make it to any of the Italian Heritage Month events that Il Centro has put on, there are still many left to attend, including banquets, festivals, concerts, and more! Visit the Italian Cultural Centre's website for more details on the days and times of each event.

Come join us at La Piazza Dario for dinner and celebrate Italian culture with authentic Italian cuisine created by our very own Chef Claudio Ranallo. Chef Claudio has been cooking since he was a small boy, born and raised in Ateleta, l’Aquila, Italy - it doesn't get much more authentic Italian than that!

Call 604.430.2195 to make your reservation, or reserve a table with us online through OpenTable.

Happy Italian Heritage Month!

(Image via Italian Cultural Centre)

Eat like royalty, eat like Italians!

You don't need to be a part of a monarchy or old world nobility in order to eat like kings and queens! Italians pride themselves in creating beautiful food, full of simple, fresh ingredients, all whipped together with love. Food has always been a sacred experience in Italy. Wine and delicious, home-cooking bring generations of friends and family together to celebrate the every day and experience true Italian culture! 

Join us for that authentic Italian experience and feast the Italian way! Here's a delicious video to inspire your tastebuds! Don't worry, you don't need to fly all the way to Florence in order to enjoy Italy's cuisine. Just come on by to La Piazza Dario and Chef Claudio will make sure those cravings for Italy are taken care of for the evening. ;)

Happy Halloween from La Piazza Dario!

And below, discover more about fall Italian tradition, All Souls Day.

Although Halloween is not traditionally celebrated by Italian culture, it is becoming more and more popular in Italy these days. Many Italians are now choosing to show their Halloween spirit (pun intended!) by dressing up and attending events and costume parties, taking place on October 31st. Certain towns in Italy are going so far as to say that they are the Italian capital of Halloween, such as the medieval town of Corinaldo, which puts on la festa di Halloween during the last week of October.

The more traditional days of celebration in Italy during this time of year, however, remain to be All Saints Day, which occurs on November 1st, a day that honours the saints of the Catholic calendar, and All Souls Day, which takes place the following day on November 2nd and honours the deceased. These two days of celebration have roots in Catholic traditions, however, All Souls Day is more about celebrating and honouring the departed, a day when many people in Italy believe that their deceased loved ones will visit them. All Souls Day or Giorno dei Morti, which in Italian literally translates to Day of the Dead, is a day when a large number of Italians clean and decorate graves to honour and remember the dead. While fairly different from the North American concept of Halloween, there are some similarities to be drawn between the two in relation to the topic of spirits and ghosts!

We wish you a safe and happy Halloween!

Join us this weekend for dinner after you and your family is all candied-out from trick-or-treating!

(Image via Pixabay)

Make next Tuesday evening an Italian Night with La Piazza Dario and Il Centro!

Join us on October 21st for an Italian dinner before attending this month's Italian movie at Il Centro.

Mark your calendars! Next Tuesday night on October 21st, Il Centro, otherwise known as the Italian Cultural Centre, is putting on an Italian movie night right next door to La Piazza Dario! So, why not make an Italian affair out of the entire evening and combine an Italian dinner with us before you head to the movie at Il Centro!

Join us at La Piazza Dario for an authentic dinner, filled with your favourite Italian dishes, such as antipasti platters and both original and traditional pasta dishes, created by our Head Chef, Claudio Ranallo. Then after you've satisfied your Italian palette, make the short trip next door to the Italian Cultural Centre for this month's Italian movie, Human Capital, or Il Capitale Umano in Italian, a film by Paulo Virvzì.

The movie begins at 7 o'clock, giving you plenty of time to get in an early dinner before it's showtime. Il Capitale Umano is just under two hours long and admission is free!

Book your reservation for dinner now via telephone at 604.430.2195 or online at OpenTable.

Find more info on the movie.

(Image via Pixabay)

June is not over yet! Come celebrate Italian Heritage Month at Il Centro and La Piazza Dario.

Italian Heritage Month may be more than half over, but there are still lots of events to attend and fun to be had. For example, there's even an event taking place today! Happening today at Il Centro, otherwise known as the Italian Cultural Centre, is the Trevigiano-Veneto Choir & Italian Men's Choir in Concert. 

As you may know, Il Centro is located on Slocan Street right beside La Piazza Dario. Which is why we would like to welcome you to partake in Italian Heritage Month, get lost in the Italian culture, and then finish up your day Italiana with a gorgeous, authentic Italian meal by Chef Claudio Ranallo here at La Piazza Dario.

Can't make the concert today? Below is a list of events, compliments of the Italian Cultural Centre, being put on at Il Centro in celebration of Italian Heritage Month. 

We look forward to helping you celebrate!

(Image via Il Centro)

It's Oscar weekend and an Italian film holds a coveted spot in the Foreign Language Film category!

We're keeping our fingers crossed for our fellow Italians in the race for an Oscar!

La grande bellezza, or 'The Great Beauty' in English, was at the top of Italy's shortlist when the submission decision was being made, and rightly so! This film joins an elite list of Italian films and filmmakers the have been nominated to win one of the most prestigious awards in arts and culture; a list that includes Life is Beautiful (1998 Winner), Scent of a Woman (1975 Nominee) and Federico Fellini's 8-1/2 (1968 Winner).

So what's this film about? Here's a short synopsis from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

Jep Gambardella is a well-known journalist whose success has placed him at the center of Rome's decadent social world. But Jep is also the author of an acclaimed novel, written years ago, and he remains haunted by the career he failed to pursue when he chose the seductive ease of his current life.

It's been almost 10 years since Italy had an entry that has made it this far and only Sunday will tell if La grande bellezza is going to be the winner. We've got high hopes that this film will add another Oscar win to record in Italian film history!

In the meantime, join us for a deliciously authentic Italian meal and get in the mood for some Italian films!

Put one night aside this month to enjoy dinner & a movie, the Italian way.

This month stop by La Piazza Dario and Il Centro for an unforgettable Italian night! With two Italian movies screening this October, one of which is at Il Centro, plan an evening filled with Italian food and culture at La Piazza Dario and Il Centro. Located side by side, the scenario could not be more perfect. Drop by La Piazza Dario for an early dinner and then head over to Il Centro for the screening of an Italian movie, or come see us after the screening for a late bite.

"Through our Italian film nights and partnerships with film festivals, we bring the stories and the voice of Italy to Vancouver." - Il Centro

Upcoming Films This Month:

• Lo spazio bianco on October 7th at 6:15pm at Instituto.
• Manuale d'amore on October 21st at 7:00pm at Il Centro.

The Mediterranean dish with the Italian name!
Calamari is thought of by many as a Mediterranean creation that we've come to enjoy deep fried and breaded, especially in North America. However, did you know that calamari is actually the Italian word for squid? It was adopted by many Mediterranean languages and English alike to represent this delicious dish!

At La Piazza Dario, you can find Head Chef Claudio Ranallo's authentic version of this tasty appy with a little bit of an Italian flare to it. Available in three different dishes, Chef Ranallo's calamari fritti are incredible. Fresh, tender and flavoured to perfection, you can order your calamari as an appetizer, have it accompany your salad or get it atop your pasta entrée. You can even find Chef Ranallo's calamari on our lunch menu!

Get to know the truth about pasta!

And then come on down to La Piazza Dario's to taste some truly delicious Italian pastas! Here is a fun infographic full of pasta facts and trivia. We bet that there will be some very interesting pasta tidbits waiting to be discovered...

Enjoy!

Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

(Infographic via Elite Heritage)

Italy is famed for its succulent meals, its Shakespearean settings, its musical operas and its singing friars?!

Today's musical spotlight is on this young friar, Friar Alessandro. Opera lovers, you're going to like the sounds of this gentle fellow...

At the tender age of nine, he knew music would be a lifelong passion:

"I started to study music when I was nine. I listened to a recording of Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, and I was amazed. And from that time I decided inside of me to be an organist and composer. I was just nine but this was really my dream!"

Singing wasn't always his musical direction of choice but at the age of 19, he began to focus on developing his voice, practising scales, vocalizing and breathing exercises. It was not long after he began his spiritual journey to join the Order of Friars Minor in Assisi.

Learn more about his story through his interview with Italia! and enjoy the sound of his operatic notes...

Spend some time in Italy this summer and live like a true Italian!

Wouldn't you love to see the sunflower fields of Tuscany from the window of your Italian villa? How about the city views of Florence from your cute and cozy apartment balcony? Or perhaps the ocean views from your colourful house on the coast of Cinque Terre?

There's nothing like visiting a country and experiencing it's true nature, enjoying but moving beyond the popular tourist haunts. If you want a real taste of Italy, live like a local and try a vacation rental instead of a hotel!

The Italian sky's the limit! Visit Summer in Italy to choose your vacation home in your favourite region!

If you need a little more convincing, just try one of our tasty dishes and you'll be wanting a bigger taste of Italy...

(Image via Pixabay)