Post the TikTok — take the cannoli.
A family of Brooklynites is championing social media creators in New York’s Italian American community who produce funny and authentic content that’s being devoured like fra diavolo worldwide.
Siblings Sabino and Michela Curcio and their cousin Rocco Loguercio have run “Growing Up Italian” across social media since 2016. They’ve amassed 2.1 million followers, delivering viral slices of Italian life from a studio above their family panini shop.
“We would always send each other silly Italian culture memes, but we felt like we could do it better,” Loguercio told The Post.
“We’re not just stereotypes; ‘Growing Up Italian’ is about tradition.”
“GUI” evolved into a weekly YouTube show in 2018. Notable guests have included “The Usual Suspects” actor Chazz Palminteri, Judge Frank Caprio and rapper Bhad Bhabie (Danielle Bregoli).
“We resonate with many people whose family immigrated to America for a better life,” Michela, 29, explained to The Post.
Along with celebrities, “GUI” has championed sometimes knowledgeable, almost always eccentric — and often both — New Yorkers whose content is a window into Italian authenticity.
“We were living it,” said Sabino Curcio, 34. “We didn’t need to make a mainstream movie to showcase the culture; we used our iPhones.”
John Viola, son of Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola, is a “professional Italian American.” He recently opened Red Sauce Studio at the corner of Mulberry and Grand Streets in Little Italy to foster “Growing Up Italian” and further investment in Italian American media.
“The content is about faith, tradition, family and food, and many people genuinely love that,” said Viola, 40.
Anthony Sciarratta’s public relations firm represents mostly Italian American businesses that want a robust social strategy — and it’s working.
“Small businesses are seeing returns by using social to present an authentic feel of the New York Italian community,” Sciarratta, 28, told The Post.
Now that’s amore!
Here are just some of the social media stars celebrating the NYC Italian American experience as only they — and “GUI” — can.
Rossella Rago, 37, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
The Queen of Italian American social media for her 841,000 Facebook followers, Rago started making her charming and insightful “Cooking With Nonna” videos with her grandmother in 2009.
“I’m pretty sure I’m the first ‘nonna creator,’ and now everyone is cooking with their nonna,” Rago told The Post.
She has published three cookbooks and opened an online shop, Bottega Della Nonna, amassing 80,000 orders since 2019.
“You also can’t be the Mother Teresa of free recipes — you’ve got to sustain the content creation.”
Sal ‘The Voice’ Valentinetti, 28, Long Island
A 2016 “America’s Got Talent” finalist, Sal “The Voice” Valentinetti, 28, hopes to bring the music of Italian crooners Louis Prima and Dean Martin to a new generation.
“The 15-second snippets of songs like ‘Che La Luna’ on thousands of social media videos connect a younger crowd to those old Italian songs,” said Valentinetti, who boasts 109,000 Instagram followers.
“Collaborating with ‘GUI’ has brought younger audiences to my shows,” he told The Post.
Danny ‘Meals By Cug’ Mondello, 27, Staten Island
“Meals By Cug” focuses on food and is known for Mondello’s vulgar takes on all types of cuisine.
Danny “Cug” Mondello combines the spicy delivery of vintage Andrew Dice Clay with stand-up comic Sebastian Maniscalco’s subject matter. His 1.4 million Instagram followers can’t stop listening to him or watching him mangia.
He also cooks. Remarking on a humongous eggplant, Cug said, “This thing could anchor the Intrepid.”
Mario Bosco, 51, Midwood, Brooklyn
Mario Bosco, an actor-comedian for nearly 40 years, looks 15. Being born with a rare condition that limited his growth doesn’t stop his Italian-centric shtick from generating laughs.
“Every nationality has good and bad aspects, but there are always funny things to relate to,” said Bosco, who boasts nearly 27,000 Instagram followers.
In a recent video, Bosco riffed on a boardwalk game where players launch a rubber lobster into a tall pasta pot on a rotating table.
“You know you’re Italian when you’re playing a game with pots and pans,” Bosco squawked.
Erma Camporese, 59, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Like many in the “GUI” universe, viral content creator New York Nico first suggested Erma Camporese’s distinctly New York demeanor would be social media gold.
“I don’t know why these people find me so interesting. I’m just being me,” she said.
A retired Western Beef employee, her hilarious “GUI” cameos led her to a new podcast, the “Mario Bosco Show,” co-hosted by its namesake.
‘Big Joe’ Gambino, 41, Astoria, Queens
“Big Joe” Gambino posts Italian wisdom and expressions for his more than 300,000 Instagram followers and 128,000-plus TikTok fans. Study his page if you’ve forgotten something your nonna used to say, like buonanima (“rest their soul”) before uttering a dead person’s name.
A fixture at the Fratellanza Italiana Di Astoria social club, Gambino flashes chains and watches stylized by Italians of a bygone era — but drives a Kia.
“People break my chops and say a big guy should drive a Cadillac or Mercedes — I say I don’t need all that,” Gambino said in a TikTok showing off his Kia Sorento.
He’s now a spokesman for a Queens Kia dealership.
Not surprisingly, “Big Joe” Gambino loves to eat. In a recent cannoli taste test, he chose the pastry from Fortunato Brothers on Manhattan Avenue in Williamsburg over one from Villabate Alba, at 7001 18th Ave. in Bensonhurst.
“I’ll have a hard time walking down 18th Avenue this summer,” Gambino joked.
Mario’s Meats & Gourmet Deli, Middle Village, Queens
Embracing new social media tactics helped the old-school butcher shop expand its reach.
“Customers are now coming from Long Island, Staten Island and Jersey, and now we’re shipping nationwide,” said Mario’s Meats Founder and President Joe DiGangi.
DiGangi, 42, speaks both English and Italian to create hilarious content about the peculiar shopping habits of Italian dads, the proper way to order a steak, and how people from different parts of Italy speak Italian.
“Social media is helping to keep Italian traditions going just like it is for people of other backgrounds,” DiGangi said.
