When he was in his early 30s, Phil Giglio went to live in Southern Italy while studying for the bar exam. That six-month excursion just outside of Naples, connecting with an area that his family once called home, was enough for him to fall in love with the region’s cuisine for life.

Even after graduating from law school, and practicing as a corporate attorney in Chicago, his mind kept drifting back to those bucolic days abroad. In particular, he dreamed of the decadently creamy mozzarella di bufala and gelato that were unlike anything he could find stateside. If I can’t live in Italy, why not bring Italy to me, he thought.