From fresh pastries in the morning to hot pizzas in the evening, 54 Mint Forno Italiano doles out authentic Italian noshes all day long. Its bakers wake up in the wee hours to start working on classic treats such as sfogliatelle, treccia, cannoli, and brioche. While they're at it, they craft fresh focaccia and other breads to use later in the day. Those breads form the foundation for antipasti such as focaccia California, slices of focaccia topped with tomato-avocado salad, and crispy paninis.

Bakers prep a different dough for the crusts that convey red and white pizzas to patrons. You can't go wrong with a classic like the margherita pizza, topped with San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil, but for something more adventurous, order the Carbonara white pizza. It's topped with Parmesan cheese, pecorino, pancetta, and a farm egg emulsion.

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr Nicola since 1972