While opening the doors to La Masseria for dinner, the words “buona sera” (good evening) roll off the tongues of charming staff throughout the restaurant. It’s this warm welcome that makes it feel as if you’ve traveled from the shores of Palm Beach to the shores of southern Italy—at least for a few hours. If you’re lucky, the charismatic manager Massimo De Luca is the one greeting you, insisting on a glass of prosecco to get things started. 

De Luca is a native of Sorrento, Italy, but he didn’t leave his culture back home. He brought it to Palm Beach Gardens for diners to experience a culinary journey filled with traditional flavors. And yes, there’s homemade limoncello made the same way you’d expect to find it on the Amalfi Coast. “[La Masseria] is the finest, most authentic Italian restaurant in not just Palm Beach County, but South Florida as a whole,” De Luca says. “You can take a trip to experience Italy’s finest cuisine without even leaving the country.”