When Chef Marco Criscuolo carefully unwraps a freshly baked loaf of panettone bread at his restaurant, Trattoria Trullo in Aliso Viejo (CA), the first things he does is smell it. When he pulls back the cellophane and brings it to his nose, the strong, sweet scent of vanilla and citrus escape from the wrapper. “It is an emotional thing,” said Criscuolo.

Panettone is emotional for many Italians like Criscuolo, who opened his restaurant serving fresh pasta and other Italian dishes earlier this year at 26611 Aliso Creek Road. The name, Trattoria Trullo, refers to a trullo, a stone house with a conical roof similar to the one Criscuolo still owns back home in the region of Puglia in Italy.