Italian-American Herald - February 2025

THE CHEF’S
PERSPECTIVE
Which style Alfredo do you
invite to your pasta bar?
Be brave and have both
PAGE 12
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FEBRUARY 2025 $3.00
Vol. 12 / No. 2
A MONTHLY NEWSPAPER SERVING THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
For military, movies
and more, this uniform
maker keeps the
accent on quality
By Ken Mammarella
Anthony D’Alessandro is justifiably proud
of a lot of things.
There’s his designation as a cavaliere – a
knight of merit – by the Italian government.
There’s the quality of the uniforms that
he makes – almost all of the uniforms for
America’s military branches, plus more for
military academies, local first responders
and the occasional Hollywood movie, like
“Titanic,” “Taps,” “A Few Good Men” and
“Dead Poets Society.”
There are all the organizations that he has
founded, led and belonged to – including
Club Amici Radio Italiana, Associazione
Regionale Abruzzese and Associazione
Regionale Abruzzese Delco, The Sons of Italy
and the Comitato degli Italiani all’Estero of
the consular district of Philadelphia.
And there’s his accent. “After all these
years, I am so proud to have my Italian accent,”
said D’Alessandro, an American citizen since
See D’ALLESANDRO - page 6
WWW.ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM
A special city hosts Special Olympics
Games come in March to Turin, a city of art, industry and history
The spire of the Mole Antonelliana offers a spectacular view of Turin and the Alps. | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
By Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
The city of Turin, Italy, will host the
Special Olympics World Winter Games
from March 8 to 15. Italy has hosted regular
Olympics games which are held every
four years on three occasions, the winter
Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956,
the Summer Olympics in Rome in 1960
and the Winter Olympics again in in 2006.
Because of this it is well prepared to host
winter sport events.
The Special Olympics World Games take
place every two years and alternate between
summer and winter games, a schedule
similar to the Olympics and Paralympics.
The games were founded in 1968 by Eunice
Kennedy Shriver to highlight the incredible
power of sport and to establish inclusion
and support for people with intellectual and
physical disabilities.
The Winter Games will host 1,500
athletes arriving from 102 countries who
will vie for medals in eight disciplines.
Turin (known as Torino in Italian) will be
See SPECIAL OLYMPICS - page 4
History unwrapped
‘Philadelphia Sandwiches’ goes behind the scenes of a local saga
By Al Kemp
It takes a true food historian who’s
passionate about his subject to wade into
the world of Philadelphia sandwich history.
Fortunately for readers, Philadelphia-area
author Mike Madaio is the writer for the job.
His new book, “A History of Philadelphia
Sandwiches,” ventures with authority into
the sandwich saga, and unwraps some tasty
slices of history that readers and Italian
Americans in the region will find irresistible.
The title actually sells the book short,
because the book is much more than a
history. Madaio has assembled a tapestry
that blends meticulous research, original
and archival photographs, social science and
cultural themes, all knitted together by an
insightful chronological narrative.
“There is something different, ineffable
The Chicken Lorenzo, from A Cut Above in
Newtown Square, Pa.
See SANDWICHES - page 8