Cease your search for a bathtub overflowing with fettuccine alfredo or even a massive platter of spaghetti and meatballs in Italy — the foods so iconic to Italian American cuisine are nowhere to be seen in pasta's homeland. Decades of immigrants from various regions of Italy, the proliferation of chain restaurants, and an American taste for quantity over quality has shaped the way Italian food is served in the United States.

A new generation of stateside chefs are looking to return to the cuisine's origins, looking to modern day Italy for inspiration. Chef Ali LaRaia, of New York's The Sosta, a fast-casual Italian restaurant specializing in homemade pasta, sauces, and shareable antipasti boards, travels to Italy often to research the nation's rich dining and pasta culture and take some of that flavor back to the East Coast.