{"id":2202,"date":"2017-11-12T17:18:37","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T00:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2202"},"modified":"2017-11-12T19:46:27","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T02:46:27","slug":"trip-to-italy-or-to-spagnuolos-in-okemos-you-decide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/lifestyle\/2202\/trip-to-italy-or-to-spagnuolos-in-okemos-you-decide","title":{"rendered":"Trip to Italy? Or to Spagnuolo\u2019s in Okemos? You decide"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Vincenzo's

Vincenzo’s home village in Italy<\/p><\/div>\n

Italian brands are \u201ctourist destinations\u201d in their own right, and Vincent and Silvana Spagnuolo, both born in Italy, attempt to immerse their customers in an authentic \u201cMade In Italy\u201d experience at Spagnuolo\u2019s \u2013 the restaurant they founded in Okemos.<\/p>\n

Millennials, of late, have embraced the lure of Italian-made brands. Gucci sales, for instance, are up 49% this year. Versace, Ferrari, and Prada, for instance \u2013 are so strong that tour company IC Bellagio offers \u201cAltagamma\u201d behind-the-scenes manufacturing tours, lifestyle experiences and culinary outings in Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur clients come to \u2018live Italy,\u2019 and enjoy true, customized experiences such as truffle hunting in Tuscany and mozzarella-making in Apulia,\u201d says ICBellagio.com\u2019s Andrea Grisdale. Chef Mario Batali will open an $106-million \u201cEataly\u201d theme park near Bologna this month.<\/p>\n

\"Spagnuolo's

Spagnuolo’s authentic “Made in Italy” cuisine began in Altilia, a mountain village in the Calabria region. (Photo Credit: Amy Spagnuolo)<\/p><\/div>\n

In the Lansing area, to provide authenticity without an airline ticket, Spagnuolo\u2019s, a quiet, cozy \u201ctrattoria,\u201d is managed by \u201cfamiglia:\u201d the second-generation Spagnuolo children Salvatore, Amy, and Michael. The menu displays a vintage picture of Vincent\u2019s parents and the warm walls display personal family photos: Vincent\u2019s village of Sant\u2019Ippolito; and a photo of Altilia, the mountain town in the Calabria region in Southern Italy where Silvana, whose maiden name is Ferrari, lived.<\/p>\n

Amy used 18 rolls of film to shoot over 400 photos during her MSU foreign study throughout Italy, and posed for one in front of Bernini\u2019s elaborate, fountain (circa 1677) at Vatican City\u2019s Piazza San Pietro. \u201cI chose and hung photos in Spagnuolo\u2019s to represent major attractions in Italy,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe\u2019ve surrounded diners with the places people want to experience such as the Palio in Sienna; the Leaning Tower of Pisa; a chef in a Tuscan vineyard; fresh seafood on display; and the pretty bridges crossing the canal in Venice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Amy

Amy and pals in Piazza San Pietro at the Vatican during a foreign study trip<\/p><\/div>\n

The most asked about photo is one she shot of colorful boats gliding over crystal blue water into a cave. \u201cPeople want to know where that is. It\u2019s the Grotta Azzurra,\u201d says Amy, who, more than 20 years after taking the photo, took her teenaged daughter Sofia back to the Blue Grotto of Capri this summer on a trip that included visits to Florence and Lucca \u2013 the walled city on the Serchio River.<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s warm setting is scored by a soundtrack of Frank Sinatra, who is revered by Italian Americans.<\/p>\n

Regulars have learned to order dessert early because Silvana hand-makes only small batches of fresh cannolis\u00a0\u00a0– she adds Marsala wine into the shells to deepen the caramel color. She was only eight-years-old when her mother and aunt taught her to cook in Italy. A family \u201ctest kitchen\u201d experience determined her menu, including a Mostaccioli Gorgonzola added by Amy and the secret sauce Salvatore created for their popular pizzas.<\/p>\n

\"Photo

Photo display inside Spagnuolos<\/p><\/div>\n

Father Jake Foglio, an Italian who, as an East Lansing Catholic priest, has spent lots of time in Rome, prefers, among other sophisticated items on the menu, the Pasta Carbonara, while world travelers Lee and Tundi Rigel, of Haslett, favor the Meatball and Mozzarella Bake. Gary Hutnik, a dentist and writer from Okemos, opts for Veal Marsala while his wife Julie swoons for Spedini. Guests can smell the aromas of Eggplant Parmesan; Baked Ziti; Spinach Manicotti; and Prosciutto-stuffed Chicken; baking when you step into Spagnuolo\u2019s and imagine you\u2019re in Italy. Spagnuolo\u2019s, which also serves pizza and caters, is open for lunch and dinner on Grand River east of Marsh Road and just west of Meridian every day but Sunday.<\/p>\n

Travel Writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at\u00a0MShiels@aol.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His radio program may be heard via MiBigShow.com\u00a0\u00a0His latest book is \u201cI Call Him Mr. President \u2013 Stories of Fishing, Golf and Life with my Friend George H.W. Bush\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Italian brands are \u201ctourist destinations\u201d in their own right, and Vincent and Silvana Spagnuolo, both born in Italy, attempt to… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[998724,998752,998844,1044565,2834,1749,15],"class_list":["post-2202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-east-lansing","tag-travel-destinations","tag-okemos","tag-travel","tag-michigan","tag-italy","tag-europe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2017\/11\/Italy-Village.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2202"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2209,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202\/revisions\/2209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}