Enjoy Classic Pasta and More in the Fox Cities
We’ve made it to January. Brrrrr! When it’s frigid outside, we tend to crave warm, hearty meals inside. And while there are plenty of cuisines to choose from in our area, there’s something about Italian fare that hits the spot—any time, really, but specifically when we want a comforting and satiating dish.
“In addition to the foods being warm and comforting, there is a certain something, it seems, that helps to glamorize Italian culture—whether it’s the food, the wine, the attention to living fully and slowly, the landscape or the art, it all comes together to help people appreciate the beauty of Italy as a whole,” Nicole DeFranza, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Carmella’s an Italian Bistro in Appleton, says.
“Italian food has always been about traditions with your family and coming together,” Cody Cottrell, Executive Chef of Cannova’s Pizzeria in Neenah, says. “I really don’t think there’s anything more quintessential than that for wintertime. Have you had risotto? I don’t think it gets more comfort food than that.”
Known for its fresh ingredients, most notably tomatoes and basil, Italian/Italian-American favorites in the area include classics like pizza and pasta, but also tout flavor profiles that might surprise you from different regions of Italy and beyond.
Read on to discover where, and what, to feast on!
Cannova’s Pizzeria, Neenah
Executive Chef Cody Cottrell
More than 100 years ago, Cannova’s Pizzeria began in Freeport, IL as a tavern style pizza place. As of December 13 of 2025, the downtown Neenah eatery has been a part of the community for 20 years.
“In general, I would say that we are an Italian-American restaurant with several recipes that have been passed down through the family, including our bread, pizza and red sauce,” Executive Chef Cody Cottrell says. “We do however, like to highlight different regions of Italy, mostly Sicily where the family can draw their roots from, but love to explore both Central and Northern Italy as well.”
Most frequently used ingredients: Tomatoes, garlic confit, fresh herbs. Excellent eggs for pasta and a wonderful assortment of both imported and Wisconsin cheeses.
Most popular menu items: Right now it’s hard to beat our lasagna. It is layers of meat, cheese and pasta smothered with our house made red sauce. We also hand make all of our ravioli that includes three meat or five cheese. We get fantastic eggs from a local farm to make some incredible pasta dough.sometimes i regret it because it’s really hard around this time of year to keep up with handmade ravioli. but selling a store bought product just wouldn’t be right.
Surprising food preparation: We try our best to make a good amount of stuff in the restaurant. Pizza dough is made in house. Debbie the owner makes all of the bread in house She also makes our tiramisu, the rest of our desserts are also made in house and there are several handmade pastas that are on the menu and that we will feature weekly.
Extras: Not only do we have an amazing thin crust pizza but on Tuesdays we do deep dish! They are fantastic, and are not really something we’ve advertised before but they have their own cult following. Every week, Thursday through Saturday, you’re going to find live music at Cannovas.
One of my favorite things about Cannovas at this time of year is looking out over downtown Meenah through our huge bay window at night when it’s snowing. It’s just gorgeous. To me, it really sums up the feeling of comfort food.
Carmella’s an Italian Bistro and VIA Pizza Napoletana, Appleton
Nicole DeFranza and Kristen Walzer, Co-Founders and Co-Owners
“Carmella’s is a place that feels like home to both Kristen and me,” Nicole DeFranza, Co-Founder and Co-Owner says. “More than anything, we want our staff and our guests to feel this love and feel at home here too. Carmella’s is who we are and is the food our
family shared with their guests in our family restaurant growing up. My family was so grateful to be here in the United States and therefore adopted some American traditions into their cooking, making our Italian cuisine accessible and warm to all of our guests.
“We are so proud of the food and hospitality that our grandma and dad has helped us share with the world. The addition of our new VIA Pizza Napoletana at our current Carmella’s location has helped us to more deeply explore our Italian family heritage and learn the ancient art and tradition of Neapolitan pizza making as they do it in Naples. Our immediate ancestors didn’t make pizza as far as we know, but knowing they were from the Naples area made us believe that somewhere in our lineage, there had to be some amazing pizza being made and enjoyed. Both Kristen and I have dreamed of bringing this type of pizza to the Valley and are very grateful to now be able to share what we’ve learned with everyone in our community.”
Italian regions represented at Carmella’s: Our family roots are from the Naples area of Italy. The food served at Carmella’s and VIArepresent a more Southern Italian style of cooking. Think red sauces, seafood, citrus, spice and of course Neapolitan Pizza. This is an obvious one as it has the region specification right in its name! As with many of the regions in Italy, the foods vary greatly depending on the region’s traditions and location.
Most frequently used ingredients: The ingredients used are fresh and simple. As in traditional Italian cooking, we try to use locally sourced ingredients when possible and when not possible, we try to source directly from Italy. Some of the staple 
ingredients of the Italian cuisine include garlic, tomatoes, parsley, fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme and oregano. Of course, cheese is another cherished star. At Carmella’s and VIA we source high quality flour from Italy for our Neapolitan pizza dough that we make in house, we use local organic eggs and local grass-fed milk for our house made gelato and our farmer friends at Two Bears Farm raise heritage pigs for our sausage and pork chops. Pasta and bread are mainstays and add to the comfort factor of our dishes.
Most popular menu items: At Carmella’s, The Pappardelle is one of our most popular pasta dishes. The pappardelle pasta is hand cut by our amazing Francisco and tossed with an asiago cream, spinach, San Marzano tomato, wild mushroom and chicken. Another popular dish is our Chicken Scarpariello with chicken breast, house Italian sausage (made for us with our local and farm raised Heritage pigs and per our family recipe at Haen Meats), hot cherry pepper and lemon butter. At VIA Pizza Napoletana, one of our most popular rosso pizzas is the Dolce and Piccante, made with our 24 hour fermented dough, san Marzano tomato sauce, fior di latte, calabrese salami and our house Calabrian chili honey, finished with basil and EVOO.
For a popular pizza bianco at VIA, many of our guests look to our Carbonara. For this pizza, we start with a parmesan crema and add crispy pancetta, sauteed leek and a local and organic sunny side egg. Our guests at VIA are also loving our house made soups and salads to start, including our amazing Pasta e Fagioli that is now back on the menu at all times for both Carmella’s and VIA. Another can’t miss to start at VIA is our Olive Cunzate which simply combines Cerignola and Castelvetrano olives with citrus peel, fresh herb, garlic confit and Calabrese Pepper with Italian extra virgin olive oil.
Extras: At both Carmella’s and VIA, all our sauces and dishes are made to order, with the passion needed to make sure our guests feel the love that we put into everything we do. Our teams at both Carmella’s and VIA are the best of the best and we are in awe of their talent and hard work every single day. We are truly so grateful to work side by side with such a talented group of caring and loving people. Carmella’s and VIA Pizza Napoletana would not be possible without them. In addition, and as always, we are very lucky to be supported by this tremendous community who have stuck with us since opening Carmella’s in 2009 and joined us on all our adventures along the way. Thank you and we appreciate you.
We are operating VIA Pizza Napoletana inside the Carmella’s space. Please try to think of it as “two restaurants in one shared space.”
Truffle Pig, Oshkosh
Executive Chef Cristiano Bassani
Described as “a piece of Italy brought into downtown Oshkosh,” Truffle Pig is the newest Italian restaurant in the area.
“It’s very authentic, but still approachable with its Midwestern warmth,” Executive Chef Cristiano Bassani says. “A blend that delivers classic Italian dishes and Neapolitan pizza from a wood-fired oven. I’m very excited to have a place for people to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and a place to gather how my family used to: sharing and passing plates, slow dining, and the best Italian wines. And for us who live in the cold, it’s just natural to come together and enjoy a good meal. I love that Truffle Pig creates this community while experiencing authentic Italian cuisine.
“Truffle Pig’s menu celebrates dishes from my hometown made by my family. I believe if my grandmother and my mother were alive today they would be very proud of me because that’s what they used to serve us when I was a little kid. There’s nothing like having food like that in winter because of the nostalgic flavors, it’s comforting.”
Italian regions represented at Truffle Pig: I created a simple menu for the Truffle Pig for people to really enjoy the freshness of the ingredients and the freshness of Italy. I had the opportunity to bring dishes from my home town, Bergamo Italy, a little town just outside of Milan, to the menu at the Truffle Pig (Lombardy Region/Northern Italy). I brought a little piece of my family here with my grandmother’s meatballs and dishes like our Cansonacelli all Bergamasca: stuffed candy-wrapper shaped pasta with Italian sausage and cured meats, Parmigiano, brown butter sage sauce, and crispy pancetta. One of my favorites to eat and cook is risotto, something I learned when I was very young from a chef in Italy. It’s very much one of my signature dishes and the flavors rotate with seasonal ingredients.
Most popularly used ingredients in traditional Truffle Pig dishes? I like to keep it simple and fresh: salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, butter, and Parmesan cheese. Always using fresh herbs: thyme, rosemary, sage, and basil.
Most frequently used ingredients: With a name like Truffle Pig, we offer truffles 365 days a year. Right now we have winter white truffles, served November-January. White truffles are very unique and something I grew up with and wanted to share here.
Most popular menu items: One of our most popular menu items is our Cacio e Pepe, prepared tableside. Freshly made thick spaghetti, Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano, black pepper, finished in a parmigiano cheese wheel, imported from Italy. We recommend topped with truffles.
Other dishes would be our Cansonacelli all Bergamasca, candy-wrapped shaped pasta, and Polpette Cristiano, a recipe from my Grandmother: beef meatballs, tomato sauce, and topped with freshly grated Parmigiano.
Extras: I love pasta, I love making fresh pasta, fresh ravioli. We make fresh pasta to serve in our dishes, with gluten-free options too. I only use fresh ingredients in my cooking. We have everything we can flown in fresh from the Mediterranean: fish, meats, cheeses.