Lucky Woodstock. Vingenzo’s is the kind of place many Atlantans would love to have in their own neighborhoods but don’t: a reasonably priced restaurant energized by a chef with a sustained obsession—in this case, Southern Italy. Michael Bologna built a tiled, wood-burning oven in the restaurant’s open kitchen to bake crisp, charred pizzas topped with tangy-sweet sauce and other primo ingredients like feisty homemade sausages. Bologna also tackles freshly made pastas in ever-changing shapes to mix and match with sauces: fettuccine with frutti di mare (shrimp, mussels, and clams in a white wine–garlic sauce) reminds you why the combination is a classic. Leave room for the flourless almond-chocolate torte.

105 East Main Street, Woodstock, 770-924-9133, vingenzos.com