Philip Guardione, Owner and Head Chef of Piccola Cucina grew up in a family that cooked, a lot. Like so many Italians, especially southern Italians, Sundays were religion to eat and cook together. “My grandmother would come and give all the children little jobs to help prepare the meal—in part to not get in trouble,” says Guardione.

His Aunt and Grandmother would squabble going back and forth in the kitchen over who made the best parmigiana di melanzane or sauce. “They would fight over who would make the better sauce. Or the best lasagna, there was this rivalry every Sunday, a sweet competition. And so I grew up surrounded by this.” He still doesn’t say who made the best sauce, to maintain diplomacy.