What prompted you to leave Italy and work in a pizzeria in Columbia City while finishing high school?

I was raised in Lago di Como, which is about 20 minutes outside Milan by train. My mother and father are both Italian, but my father runs a meat-curing business and small cafe called da Pino down the street [in Columbia City]. It's a lot of work and he runs it by himself, so I moved out here last year to help him, while my mother stayed in Italy. Tutta Bella is down the street from my father's business.

Run me through an outline of your day.

I wake up at 4:00 a.m. to be here by 5:00 a.m. and open up. Then I drive to Ballard High School at 11:00 a.m. for class. I'm a senior this year. Last year I was a freshman because they couldn't figure out my transcripts—it took them a year to translate them. After school, I go help my father until closing. Then I usually go to bed. I'm happy here, but it's tough. I really miss my friends.

How does Tutta Bella's pizza compare to Italian pizza?

It's as authentic as you can get outside of Italy. The owners really care about preserving Italian tradition. They travel to Italy every year to try to improve their ingredients and technique. Same with the coffee we serve, although in Italy, we don't have skim milk or soy milk. It's all just milk. The first time I saw these other milks I thought they were rancid. I still haven't tried soy milk.