Antonella's Ristorante, San Jose

During years spent refining his culinary skills—including a stint in the kitchen of Berlin's Grand Hotel and tutelage under Italian chefs from Brindisi—chef Lyle Koch absorbed the essential commandments of fine cooking. Keep it simple. Keep it fresh. Don't use bases. Make your own sauces. Don't let the lobster trick you into switching places.

Lyle brought those teachings together when he was finally ready to open his own eatery, Antonella's Ristorante. Antonella's chefs make everything from scratch—including sauces and pizza dough—and have seafood and produce flown in fresh throughout the week. Their attention to detail shines through in the final plates, which range from pizzas topped with barbecued chicken and smoked gouda to classic veal parmesan with savory tomato sauce. A generous wine list complement the meals with a variety of grape distillates.

To Lyle, an atmosphere of warm hospitality is just as important to Italian cooking as the cuisine itself. That hospitality has been part of Antonella's since the fateful day it opened (September 11, 2001). As the events of that tragic day unfolded, Lyle decided to make the evening's food and wine free of charge and welcomed his diners into a TV-free refuge where they could eat, talk, and grieve together.