"It's time to smuggle some s---,” chef Evan Funke jokes as we climb into the Land Rover Defender, arguably the largest vehicle the majority of Italy’s streets have ever seen. Funke, the chef behind Los Angeles pasta temples Felix Trattoria and Mother Wolf and the recently opened Funke, is not talking about drugs or antiquities.

He is speaking of seeds — more specifically about seeds from bergamot, the bright and fragrant citrus fruit that punctuates the landscape of Calabria, the final stop on our road trip down the boot of Italy before we journey to the island of Sicily. There, Funke hopes to further his collection of seeds for plants like cedro, a lemon with a thick, white edible pith with the flavor and texture of a perfectly tart Granny Smith apple.