Walk into Mazzi Cucina to be transported to the home of an eccentric nonna — a tiny space filled with memorabilia from the owners’ childhood, complete with family pictures. Sometimes cured sausages hang above the counter from a wood rod. Benches are piled with mismatched pillows and there are rustic wood tables out front.

The food is simple northern Italian, made with premium ingredients such as 18-month aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, Ligurian olive oil and house made pastas. Chef-owner Stefano Mazzi is from La Spezia, between Genoa and Pisa. An Italian restaurateur tasted his food in Italy and hired Mazzi as chef at his restaurant in Newport Beach California when he was 19. He came to Miami in 2011 to open Cavalli on Miami Beach.