Villa Nova Pizzeria, New Buffalo

On November 16, 1955, Alfonso Tornabene arrived in Stickney, Illinois, half a world from his native Sicily. Though his location had changed, the synapses firing in his brain still carried the inkling of an idea––a recipe for a traditional Sicilian pizza. After several decades perfecting the preparation, he passed the recipe onto his daughter Mary, who by proxy brought it to the menu at Villa Nova Pizza.

Specializing in Chicago-style thin crust tossed with Alfonso's Sicilian methods, Villa Nova hand-tosses gooey specialty pizzas festooned with pesto and garlic, available by the pie or slice. Eclipsing the shackles of mere dough, skilled chefs also populate tables with hearty sandwiches and traditional pasta such as manicotti and potato gnocchi in marinara or vodka sauce. After the meal, guests can wrap up a mini cannoli and head to nearby Lake Michigan for walk along the water, or measure its depth by sewing several hundred mini cannolis together end to end.