I know what you are thinking. Monica, why are you dragging us to a conference about Leonardo da Vinci’s old papers? Because, my darlings, this is not a dusty lecture. This is a detective story. A digital heist. And it happened right under the nose of Casa Italia next to Buckingham Palace.
Yesterday I slipped into the new Italian embassy in London, a stunning building overlooking the Royal…
I am Italian. So when I saw that the Fireside Folktales Festival in Barnes was staging a piece by Dario Fo, Nobel Prize winner, genius satirist, and the only playwright who can make politics feel like a carnival, I felt truly excited. Fo wrote Dedalus and Icarus with his wife and creative partner Franca Rame, an actress and activist whose name should be shouted from every rooftop. Together, they…
I will admit something. Italian author and journalist Enrico Franceschini is a friend. And yes, I have read every single one of his books. Because when a proper journalist decides to write thrillers, I am first in the queue. From the days of Le notti di Mosca to the Romagna trilogy (Bassa Marea, Ferragosto and Un’estate a Borgomarina), and now this new one Arrivederci Londra, not to mention all…
From Italy to London: a one-on-one interview with the editor of Il Fatto Quotidiano, Marco Travaglio, bringing “Cornuti e contenti” to the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. A few days before the show, I caught up with him by phone. I confess: at first I felt a little intimidated. Then I found him wonderfully kind and interesting. He even told me about his passion for karaoke.
When I learned that…
Everybody loves pizza. That’s just a fact. And when most people think of pizza, they think of the classic Neapolitan version: soft, puffy, leopard-spotted crust with a slightly charred, chewy edge. It arrives as a full 12-inch circle, often bigger than the plate, and you fold it like a handkerchief to stop the toppings from sliding off into your lap. It’s glorious. It’s famous. It’s been…
On 26 April 2026, a small army of chefs, volunteers, and passionate food lovers gathered at Chelsea Old Town Hall with one goal: to break the Guinness World Record for the longest tiramisù in history. And they succeeded – beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
As Editor of London Mums Magazine, proud official media partner to this initiative, I was there not just to report but to take part. I had…
You don’t get to sit down with the world’s most celebrated pastry chef every day. Iginio Massari – undisputed master, crowned best pâtissier in the world in 2017, and again last year in Paris – says with ironic modesty: «We can say that’s how it is.» But behind the legend lurks a man who, at four years old, fell into a bowl of cream – and never really got out. A proper Obelix, but…
A week before meeting Italy’s most famous contemporary film director Ferzan Özpetek, I wrote my review of Diamanti and I gave it a rating of ten out of ten stars.
For me, it is the most beautiful film of the past decade. It moved me deeply. On impulse, I wrote to him on Instagram. And he replied with a humility you do not expect from someone of his stature. With gratitude. With…
As a film enthusiast and an Italian mother raising a family in London, I am constantly searching for stories that resonate with the complex tapestry of modern womanhood. Between the school run, the pasta boil, and the bedtime stories, there is little time for the cinema. But every so often, a film comes along that doesn’t just deserve a babysitter and a night off – it demands one.
Few films…
Right now Marco Giallini is in Aosta shooting the new season of Rocco Schiavone / Ice Cold Murders. In the meantime, he broke his leg – but after just a few days and an operation, he was already back on set, doing physiotherapy as he goes. A true phenomenon, as professional as they come. After meeting him in person, my admiration for him has grown even more (if that’s possible, given how much…