During the pandemic, chef Chad Colby had many difficult decisions to make. At his Larchmont restaurant Antico, he pivoted his full menu of pastas to a takeout pan pizza and ice cream spot to keep his operation, now known as Antico Nuovo, running. But behind the scenes, Colby was also scheming for his next big breakthrough: bringing a taste of Puglia to Los Angeles.

Colby is an Italophile who found his love of the country through school-sponsored trips that introduced him to hundreds of wines and regional cuisine. It was Puglia that truly stuck with him, thanks to the region’s simplistic cuisine, its savory antipasti, subtle pastas, and grilled meats and fish.