'A Taste of Italy' offers Italian food favorites, entertainment; serves as fundraiser for ICC





MILWAUKEE -- Downtown Milwaukee smelled a lot like Italy on Sunday afternoon, April 28.

Guests packed the Italian Community Center on Chicago Street near Jackson Street to try Italian favorites like arancini, a deep fried rice ball filled with ground beef, cheese and peas, eggplant lasagna, Roman antipasto and of course, Italian meatball subs.

It was all part of the 24th annual "A Taste of Italy."

"The Italians have been here for a long long time. We started out in a little Third Ward community when our ancestors came. and over the years, we've spread out. This is a place we can all come back and have a taste of what it used to be -- bring their children here to see what the Italian culture was and hopefully continues to be in the years to come," said Marie Andaloro-Lieber, co-chair of the Taste of Italy.

In addition to the delicious food, the event offered an Italian entertainment lineup featuring two performances by Tradizione Vivente, the Italian Dance Group of Milwaukee, The Sicilian Serenaders – Peter Balistrieri and Tom and Ted Pappalardo and recording artist Jayne Taylor.









Admission and parking for the event were free. Each food ticket at the event was $2. All of the money raised would be used for the Italian Community Center's cultural programming.