Gambero Rosso, an Italian food and wine magazine that was founded in 1986, has been publishing its restaurant guide since 1990. The guide, Ristoranti d’Italia, describes the best Italian restaurants across the world. For each place it attributes a rating from 60 to 100 and, only for the best restaurants, a number of forchette (‘forks’) ranging from 1 to 3. Only one Italian restaurant from Maryland has ever earned a forchette (fork)— IL Pizzico in Rockville earned una forchetta/one fork (video of the experience available below).

The story of Il Pizzico began in the late 80’s, when founders Enzo & Sandra started their journey to open up their very own restaurant. After scouting different locations, they happily settled in Rockville, MD, and opened up a small deli in 1990. “Unlike how most delis run, people did not want to order food for take out, rather they wanted to sit in and enjoy their meal.” IL Pizzico shares on their website.