Home Care In Knightsville, IN

“Scrivi e ricorda – write and remember.”

Caterina Cardi Capotosto would often share this sentiment with her children during their afternoon story time before the bustle of supper and evening visitors. Her daughter, Bernadette Conte, took her words to heart.

“I would take little notes,” she said during a phone interview Monday. “I never thought I would use them.”

The culmination of Conte’s notetaking was center stage Sunday evening in an outdoor screening of “Heart of Knightsville” in Itri Square on Phenix Avenue. The 43-minute documentary premiered for a sold-out crowd July 13 at the Odeum in East Greenwich.

“It is special to show “Heart of Knightsville” in the heart of Knightsville,” said state Rep. Chris Paplauskas during his welcoming remarks. Paplauskas helped to organize the screening.

In 2014, Conte published the book “Eviva Maria: Madonna della Civita,” which was adapted into the documentary film “Heart of Knightsville.“

Conte is an executive producer. The director is Tom DeNucci, who grew up in Cranston and is known more for action thrillers like the Providence-set “Vault” (2019) and the more recent “Play Dirty” (2025). The film’s release was timed to coincide with the 120^th annual Devotion to Madonna della Civita, more commonly known as Saint Mary’s Feast.

The film includes photos, archival videos and interviews with notables from the St. Mary’s Feast Society. Interestingly, the documentary also uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) images to fill in some visual gaps, depicting everything from an 8th-century miracle to what Conte looked like in 1975.

About 200 people attended the Sunday show, including friends and family of Conte and DeNucci. There were also people from the neighborhood who were curious.

Jean Dunne, of County Derry in Northern Ireland, is visiting with her daughter and son-in-law and his family. She saw the announcement while attending Mass at St. Mary’s. She persuaded her daughter’s mother-in-law, Marie Humphrey, to join her.

“It was brilliant,” said Dunne at the end of the screening.

“It’s a wonderful story and amazing to me how they carry [this story] from one generation to the next,” said Humphrey.

What began as casual notetaking took on more meaning and structure when the pastor of St. Mary’s asked Conte in 1975 to write the history of the church for its 50^th anniversary.

And 50 years later, she is still going.

“There is so much information and tons and tons of documents,” she said, noting that while response to the film has been positive, many have questioned why more wasn’t included.

At the screening, Conte announced her next project, the second half of the story, which will include what it was like to live in Knightsville. She told the crowd she wasn’t sure how or when, but that she would now turn her attention to a film “about the people who lived here.”

“The main goal is trying to get younger people to make a connection, to know their roots and where they came from. We had our family, our faith and our community,” Conte said. All those years ago in 1975, she made a “silent promise” to one day tell the story of the emigrants from Itri because “people should know the sacrifices they made.”

During her remarks, Conte offered words of gratitude for the support she received, especially from her family, during the entire process, from fundraising and design to websites, screenwriting and production.

“You all have wonderful and special memories,” said DeNucci during his brief remarks. “I hope this film brings out those memories in your heart.”

Far from the vibrant streets, historic architecture and rolling hills of Lazio, Italy is a place in the heart of Cranston’s Knightsville neighborhood that brings Italian cuisine straight to its patrons’ plates.

Right down the street from Café Itri is a new Italian restaurant, Bar Lazio.

Don’t get the name mixed up with the traditional idea of an American bar; in Italy a bar offers bakery items like pastries and sweets, and beverages such as coffee, wine and cocktails are also served.

More specifically Bar Lazio is a traditional Italian Bar for aperitivo, which means it serves light menu items like appetizers rather than full dinner items.

Vincenzo Mazza and Christopher Maselli are the founders of Bar Lazio and they officially opened the restaurant in March. They say the idea is for people to come and have a light meal before dinner or dessert after.

Opening Bar Lazio was something that Mazza believed was always in him, something he always wanted to do. He said his grandfather had owned a similar establishment back in Italy – a bar with a convenience store.

“[Bar Lazio] is very similar to this except he (his grandfather) did it in Italy 70 years ago,” Mazza said.

Maselli, a lawyer, grew up working at LaSalle Bakery in Providence, owned by his cousins Cheryl and Mike Manni. At 15, Maselli began as a pan boy then worked up to making pastry and helping bake things like cannoli. He said cooking was always something he enjoyed.

After talking to each other about the idea of opening a restaurant, they decided to do it in Knightsville.

“It [was] important to emphasize that we're part of the community, [and] that we tried to meld into the Italian neighborhood,” Mazza said.

The Knightsville community has deep roots of Italian heritage. According to Maselli, at least 60% of those in the community can trace their roots back to Itri, Italy.

Deeply influenced by their Italian heritage, Mazza and Maselli found their first instinct was to include Itri in the name of the new restaurant. But another Knightsville staple, Café Itri, already had it.

The new name came from the Lazio region in Italy, where Itri is a city.

Following a Roman-inspired menu, antipasti boards (also known as charcuterie boards), panini sandwiches and pinsa, a Roman-style pizza made with a lighter dough than a regular pizza, are among the items offered.

According to Mazza, most of their product is directly imported from Italy. The rest is sourced from local farms and the restaurant’s garden in Johnston. All desserts are made in-house by Maselli’s wife, Gina, and his sister-in-law. Maselli said his wife did a lot of baking growing up, and uses family recipes in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, everything is made to order, right down to the sliced meat, which makes for a fresh presentation.

From fresh espresso to make their popular espresso martinis to produce from their garden – basil, parsley, tomatoes and zucchini – the cuisine at Bar Lazio is as fresh as it gets.

“[We] try to support the local farmer, which also makes [the food] fresher," Mazza said.

All the wine offered on their wine menu are from Italy. They also have Italian beers and seltzers.

Asked about any impacts from President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, Mazza said there have been none. Before any tariffs had come out of Washington, he had locked in prices directly with the manufacturers.

True to the Italian culture, Mazza says, Bar Lazio is very family oriented. Maselli’s daughter works there, and his son sometimes helps. Mazza is also cousins with Maselli’s wife, Gia. Some of the food at Bar Lazio comes from family recipes that Mazza says are from his mom, and some are from Maselli’s family.

“We were very invested in our family and keeping it real to the Italian culture and the Lazio culture,” Mazza said.

With the Feast of St. Mary coming up, the restaurant will be hosting events as part of the festivities.

There will be food and events including a hot dog stand, gelato stand, four bands for each night and an outside bar, Maselli said.

“People are coming here more for that Little Italy experience,” he said.

It seems that statement continues to resonate in this newest establishment.

One patron who said it was his first time dining at Bar Lazio offered this assessment: “[I] felt right back in Italy; the only thing missing was the Mediterranean when looking out the window.”