In northern Italy, along Lake Como, you’ll find Mandello del Lario, a city famous for manufacturing Moto Guzzi motorcycles since 1921 and less famous for some of the more interesting restaurants in the region. There, in the La Pizzeria-Trattoria Rosalba I had my first brush with handfuls of sage in Italian cooking and the enormous influence herbs like rosemary have on Italian cuisine.

Those, along with their better known companions like basil and oregano, became part of how I have come to understand Mediterranean cooking and the importance of these robust flavors in Italian dishes. Dishes at Spaghetti Western in downtown Fargo come from such a place.