The first time I met Riccardo Orfino, in the Summer of 2013, he told me that he dreamed of moving to America. At the time, the chef was at the helm of LadyBù’s kitchen – a bistro in Milan and a collaboration between two chefs from both a two-star restaurant and a DOP mozzarella producer.

LadyBù’s cheese-centric menu was the answer to all my inner turophile (or cheese-lover’s) dreams, and the bistro immediately became my favorite joint. In fact, I think I single-handedly took the term “regular” to a whole new level: returning time and time again to savor delicious fare like the paccheri al pomodoro, a stack of silky al dente pasta coated in a sweet, robust tomato sauce – all topped with a stringy, creamy blob of stracciatella, or perhaps a plush, crispy slab or two of mozzarella in carrozza (the original Italian name for fried mozzarella).