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20 | April 18, 2019 | The highland park landmark life & Arts hplandmark.com singer From Page 19 letta said, “Now, let’s play together,” as they launched into another song popularized by an Italian film, “What Scoundrels Men Are!”. At one point, during “Mala Femmina,” which Iovino said translates to “Bad Lady,” Coletta pulled up a man from the audience to join him. Filippo DiVagno, 75, sang every word as Coletta even briefly ceded the stage to him. After the show, DiVagno said, “I like to sing all the time. If you want to live long, sing all the time.” A retired Highland Park High School employee, DiVagno said he was known for singing while working and he wrote songs for his children’s weddings. DiVagno, a native of Italy whose wife’s You're invited to the North Shore Women in Business Networking Breakfast! 7-9 a.m. Wednesday, June 5 The Happ Inn 305 N. Happ Road, Northfield maiden name is also Coletta, said he moved to the area in the late 1960s. He heard about Gianni Coletta at the Highwood Bocce Club and saw his first performance in 2017. After DiVagno’s impromptu sing-along, Iovino said Italians are an emotional people. “When people find out you’re Italian, they want to come over,” she said. “When you cook, you can feed 50 people.” Throughout the rest of the performance, other audience members joined in and danced in the aisles as they played Italian standards such as “Volare” and “O’ Sole Mio.” Clearly enjoying himself, Coletta said, “This is the first time a concert has been like this for me.” “Welcome to America,” Iovino replied. “This is a cabaret,” Coletta said. “We’re going to take it Join us for the NS Women In Business Awards nomination kickoff and network with some of the top business women in the North Shore! Continental breakfast available. TICKETS $20 Use promo code PAPER to take $5 off! 22ndCenturyMedia.com/networking For more information, call (847) 272-4565 on the road,” Iovino said. After the show, Coletta greeted fans, many of whom spoke Italian with him. Wolfe said, “He’s talented and gracious. He’s a real jewel.” Speaking in English, Coletta said, “Every time I come to Chicago it’s fantastic. I love to sing here.” Coletta, 42, said it wasn’t the first time he has performed in a library, and he appreciated the enthusiasm of the Highland Park audience. “This was a party tonight,” he said. Coletta has performed all over the world and is the artistic director of AC- TEA, a charity that promotes artistic and cultural activities. While in Chicagoland, he also performed at 210 Live Tuesday night, Pescatore Palace Thursday night, and a dinner concert at Highwood Bocce Club Friday. <strong>HP</strong> resident publishes memoir-turned-novel Erin Yarnall, Editor “Seven Photographs” is available now. photo SUBMITTED Alan Rossman didn’t set out to be a novelist. In fact, he didn’t set out to be a writer at all. For years, Rossman was a college professor, teaching pedagogy to prospective science teachers. But once he retired, Rossman turned to accomplishing lifelong goals, including writing a memoir. “I recently retired and had some time and what I thought was a good idea,” Rossman said about his novel, “Seven Photographs.” “I wanted to see if I could do it, and I’m really happy with the fact that I put in that time and effort to fulfill that lifelong goal. I feel great.” For Rossman, the first step of writing his novel was putting pen to paper, or in his case, finger to keyboard. But he said once the first word was down, the rest continued to flow to fill out the story. “At a certain point, it develops this momentum which was irrepressible,” Rossman said. He was inspired by visual literacy. “Visual literacy is how looking at a photo, or an image can reveal all sorts of hidden meanings about the moment in which that picture was taken,” Rossman said. His novel was initially intended to be a memoir, as Rossman wrote about themes in his life, based on photographs that he found. While writing his memoir, he started to craft another story, and instead of writing about himself, began to follow different characters. “Seven Photographs” follows Wilson, a “profoundly sad guy,” according to Rossman. “[He] uses [visual literacy] as a way of recognizing the magic that can brew inside life’s smallest moments, like the moments captured in a photograph,” Rossman said. “The story is wrapped around these two friends, both of whom are sad people and have recently experienced traumas in their lives, but come together through a bond of friendship to expose the story of their lives.” As a first-time writer, Rossman went through a hybrid publisher, a version of self-publishing. “I had the strength of this hybrid publishing company behind me to help with some editing, some marketing and the design,” Rossman said. “They provide that kind of support, which for me was really important.” He said he hopes his novel can be picked up by a big publishing house, but said it might be “a bit of a pipedream, but it’s a possibility.” Rossman, a longtime resident of the Ravinia neighborhood, said there are some Highland Park Easter eggs that readers might be able to catch. “I suspect that first-time writers write what they know,” Rossman said. “I’ve been a Highland Park resident for 33 years and love the area. The story takes place in a setting that is very much like the setting outside of my living room window — a tightly knit neighborhood of people who are out and about for 1,000 different reasons and occasionally bump into each other, and sometimes those chance and happenstance encounters lead to something deeper.” A big fan of Norton’s Restaurant in Highland Park, Rossman has a restaurant setting in the novel not unlike his favorite local establishment. He also said the “general sense of neighborliness” rings true to the Ravinia neighborhood. “Seven Photographs” is available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
hplandmark.com dining out the highland park landmark | April 18, 2019 | 21 Dining Out Trattoria Oliverii mixes tradition with fresh spin on Italian classics Eric DeGrechie Managing Editor The Pasta Prosciutto ($18) features rolled pasta, ham, basil, cheese and a tomato creme sauce and is said to be a favorite among customers at the restaurant. Photo by Michael Wojtychiw/22nd Century Media Trattoria Oliverii 1358 Shermer Road, Northbrook (847) 559-8785 www.oliveriis.com 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday 4-10 p.m. Saturday 4-8:30 p.m. Sunday Spring can be a challenging time of year for local residents as the weather seems to change every day, even by the hour at times. Katie Keefe and Ali Clark, owners of Northbrook’s Trattoria Oliverii, are especially excited for better weather to roll into town. “We’re ready to put our patio out,” said Clark, adding that eight tables with 24 seats total will soon be available for seating on the sidewalk located in front of the restaurant. “We need to stop getting teased every day.” Keefe, a native of Northbrook, and Clark bought Trattoria Oliverii in November of last year. Keefe has worked at the downtown establishment since it opened in 1991. Keefe and Clark are cousins. While some of Trattoria Oliverii’s signature dishes have remained intact from years past, the current owners have also put their own spin on things at 1358 Shermer Road. “We gave the menus a facelift. We’ve changed up the lunch menus, too,” Clark said. “The specials have improved tremendously. We’re giving our chef all the leeway to be creative.” Clark said they’ve also worked on expanding the wine list by bringing in some fresh selections. Last month, Trattoria Oliverii introduced new options on its daily special menu with the goal to incentivise customers to return frequently. Trattoria Oliverii is a popular spot for families with a kids menu recently added. “We encourage people to bring their kids in. We’re located right near the train station, so kids love to watch the trains,” Clark said. “Bring your families and if you want to come by a little later at night on the weekends, it’s a great date night spot.” Recently, several 22nd Century Media editors made a visit to Trattoria Oliverii to talk with the owners, try some dishes and take in the entire culinary experience. Clark described the cuisine as being mostly from the Central and Northern parts of Italy, specifically the Abruzzo region, east of Rome. First up, we sampled the Bruschetta Romana ($7) on the antipasti menu featuring chopped tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, garlic, and parmigiana, served on Italian bread. The bruschetta is topped with extra virgin olive oil. After taking our first few bites, we knew instantly we were in for a good meal. All entrees include a choice of soup or salad. We tried the minestrone soup. The Italian soup was chock-full of hearty vegetables and included some pasta. Next, we were brought out a dish of the Pasta Prosciutto ($18), featuring rolled pasta, ham, basil, cheese and a tomato cream sauce. “It’s definitely one of our best sellers, people love it,” Clark said. “Anything with our vodka tomato cream sauce, or Russo sauce, is what we’re well known for.” To read the full story, visit <strong>HP</strong>Landmark.com.
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