Movie-star topic archive

#Italian-AmericanFood

Italian-American actors and filmmakers connected to Sunday gravy, red-sauce cooking, neighborhood restaurants and family-table traditions.

6 profiles in this archive

Profiles and food stories

Stanley Tucci

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Actor, author, and food travel host

Stanley Tucci is the actor who turned regional Italian cooking into appointment television, first with Big Night, then with his Italy travel series and the bestselling memoir Taste.

Regional connection: Calabrian roots, raised in Westchester, New York
Food on screen: The timpano in Big Night (1996) — a drum of pasta, egg and meat cut open at the table — is still the most requested Italian-American dish in film.

Why the food connection is credible

Co-wrote and co-directed Big Night, the film that made timpano famous
Wrote The Tucci Cookbook and the memoir Taste: My Life Through Food
Hosted a CNN travel series touring Italy region by region, then a follow-up series
Filmed a widely shared lockdown Negroni video that pushed the drink back into fashion

Cook Spaghetti Carbonara Pour Negroni

Robert De Niro

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Actor and restaurateur

Robert De Niro is one of the few actors who is a genuine restaurant operator, as co-founder of Nobu and Tribeca Grill.

Regional connection: Italian-American New York, with family roots in Molise and Campania
Food on screen: The prison kitchen in Goodfellas — razor-thin garlic, the tomatoes, the roast — is the food scene his fans quote most, even though the line is Paul Sorvino's.

Why the food connection is credible

Co-founded Nobu with chef Nobu Matsuhisa, now a global restaurant and hotel group
Co-founded Tribeca Grill in downtown Manhattan
Long-running involvement in the Tribeca neighborhood's restaurant scene

Cook Lasagna alla Bolognese Pour Americano

Al Pacino

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Actor

Al Pacino starred in the film that taught America how to cook Italian-American Sunday gravy — The Godfather.

Regional connection: East Harlem and the South Bronx, New York
Food on screen: Clemenza's sauce lesson in The Godfather (1972): fry garlic, throw in tomatoes and tomato paste, add sausage and meatballs, then a little wine and sugar. It is the most quoted cooking scene in film.

Why the food connection is credible

The Godfather's kitchen scenes shaped how a generation pictured Italian-American home cooking
The Godfather Part II opens its New York chapters around the family table

Cook Homemade Italian Sausage Pour Negroni Sbagliato

Danny DeVito

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Actor and limoncello maker

Danny DeVito makes and sells his own limoncello, after falling for the Sorrento original.

Regional connection: Asbury Park, New Jersey; Italian-American family roots
Food on screen: His limoncello brand grew out of an on-air moment that turned into an actual product line.

Why the food connection is credible

Launched Danny DeVito's Premium Limoncello
One of the few celebrity drinks brands that Italians will argue about seriously

Cook Cannoli Siciliani Pour Limoncello Spritz

Marisa Tomei

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Actress

Marisa Tomei is a Brooklyn Italian-American actress whose roles keep landing at the family table.

Regional connection: Brooklyn, New York
Food on screen: My Cousin Vinny (1992) runs on kitchen and diner scenes as much as courtroom ones.

Why the food connection is credible

Brooklyn Italian-American upbringing
Repeatedly cast in films built around Italian-American family meals

Cook Chicken Parmigiana Pour Espresso Martini

Michael Imperioli

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Actor and writer

Michael Imperioli starred in the show that made Sunday gravy, baked ziti and Vesuvio part of American food language.

Regional connection: Mount Vernon, New York; Italian-American
Food on screen: The Sopranos turned a New Jersey Italian-American restaurant into a recurring character, and its food is discussed as much as its plot.