The sudden onset of hunger pangs is the leading cause of unfinished novels, cancelled duels, and tied soccer matches. Cut down on unfinished business with today's Groupon: for $12, you get $25 worth of Northern Italian cuisine and drinks at La Piola.

Powered by the sustainable bounty of local producers, La Piola crafts seasonal menus of rustic Italian dishes brimming with freshness and authentic flavour. Current offerings are neatly printed on paper and colourfully scrawled on chalkboards for the convenience of diners and the withering penmanship critiques of schoolmarms. Galvanize the gastronomical gala with an antipasti plate presenting house-cured salamis, house-pickled veggies, cheese, and crostino ($12, add $5/person for multiplates). The stagionale pizza, meanwhile, lays free-range vegetables to sleep on pillows of steamy crust ($14). The kitchen makes its pastas on-site with eggs from chickens born, bred, and educated locally, and the restaurant's products are imported straight from Italy, providing the base for such dishes as the carbonara ($12) and puttanesca ($11). Drink options afford wines ($8+/glass) and local bottled beers ($4.95+) for toasting friends or roasting derelict crossing guards. Diners can enjoy all tastes on La Piola's outdoor brick patio.

Like spy toupees, La Piola's offerings change regularly based on the seasonal availability of local farms and select import sources. The restaurant strives to leave palates purring while leaving the smallest ecological footprint possible. Fish hail from nearby waters, and kitchen waste is composted whenever possible to reduce landfill impact, nearly twice as effective as trying to convince siblings to subsist on a diet of cheese husks.