Il Cugnolo

A restored noble residence perched above the Marche maquis, with the Adriatic glinting in the distance, is a pretty good room in which to eat well. This is a gourmet restaurant where a young Neapolitan chef produces contemporary Italian cooking that leans hard into the region and the Mediterranean without drowning in either. The kitchen's own agricultural estate supplies the olive oils and wines, which is the sort of farm-to-table claim that here has paperwork behind it.

One honor, in evidence: