East of Rome, stretching from the Adriatic coast to the Apennine mountains, lies a region of Italy that has not yet inspired the same fervor in international tourists as some of its neighbors. Abruzzo, with a varied landscape that shines in the hyper-regional cooking of its provinces, is one of those lovely stretches of Italy that feels, somehow, untouched—offering everything you might want for those (rare) moments you're not devouring handmade pasta: parks, beaches, mountains, vibrant cities, stunning churches, and museums, all of which feel like they don't simply exist for tourists' benefit.

"Abruzzo is a very rustic place, where rusticity is not an affectation," says Francis Cretarola, the owner of Philadelphia's Le Virtù, a refined ode to the region's gastronomy. Cretarola splits his time between Philadelphia and Abruzzo, and trains his kitchen staff there, as well. "It's not everybody's cup of tea," he adds. Which is to say: Not only might the menus you find not have English translations, but you may not know what you've ordered until it arrives at your table. But lucky for you—it will be all the more delicious for it.