In a country where the culinary avant-garde can be hard to find, it is surprising that one of Italy’s best examples is near Lake Como, a place known for serving bland cuisine with a view. Davide Caranchini, born in 1990, turned Materia into one of the few New Nordic–leaning restaurants at this latitude (he did a stint at Noma). It has evolved over time to offering a daring cuisine, where excessive acidity is tamed by fat (such as his signature pickled red cabbage salad and smoked marrow) and sweets that can border on being rancid, like his instant classic, the cheesecake punk.