Bella Italia on Hampden Lane has offered shoppers an authentic taste of Italy for eight years. Carrying a huge array of Italian ceramics, as well as marionettes and fresh-from-the-tree olive oil, owners Bill and Suzy Menard regularly travel to Italy to select the handcrafted artisan home goods that fill their colorful shop.
They also rent out their Umbrian villa so friends and customers can enjoy summer jazz festivals or a fall wine and food tour.
This year, Accenti d’Italia, a product showcase put on by the Italian Trade Commission, has invited Bella Italia to participate in their annual event.
As one of the 14 stores chosen nationwide, Bella Italia will feature a dozen new Italian artisans from Dec. 3 through Dec. 18.
Handcrafts include papier-mache masks from Florence, Sorrento mosaic inlay boxes and Murano glass. For a complete list of artists, click here.
The store is welcoming friends and customers to the store for an all-day celebration Dec. 3 with arts and crafts, tastes of their gourmet olio novello and other Italian treats, music, caroling and free gift wrap.
The festivities wrap up with a party from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring opera singers Diane Abel and Aurelio Dominguez. You may recognize Abel from Trattoria Sorrento on Cordell Avenue in Bethesda, where she appears monthly.
Dominguez has had several roles at The Virginia Opera, as well as regular gigs at the National Shrine of Washington, D.C. They will be accompanied by pianist Josephine Riggs from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
For more information, click here. Though the events are all open to the public, the owners request an RSVP to info@bellaitaliaonline.com.
The Shoppes of Bethesda, 4934 Hampden Lane, Bethesda, 301-654-2667, www.bellaitaliaonline.com
