Archestratus, the first food critic, praised Italian cuisine's use of "top-quality and seasonal" ingredients and its "fair-to-middling" ability to tranquilize out-of-control mayors. Today's Groupon similarly stuns, and rightfully so: for $10, you get $20 worth of northern Italian cuisine at Floga Bistro in Kennett Square.

Floga Bistro’s team of pasta professionals utilize fresh, locally acquired ingredients to construct a menu of authentic northern Italian dishes with Mediterranean influences. Fill kung fu grips with paninis such as the Marco Polo, a savory stack of roasted turkey and portobello mushrooms under a red-pepper spread ($8.99). Prosciutto di parma mingles with gouda cheese and sundried tomatoes to construct the Montessa pizza, which boasts a brick-oven baked crust ($17.99). Table denizens can also enjoy antipasti dishes such as mussels simmered in a rich blend of olive oil and herbs and flambéed in a white wine sauce ($10.99) or the vitello a la parmigiano—breaded veal tucked beneath a blanket of provolone cheese and zesty marinara on a bed of pasta ($14.99). Seafood Vesuvio ($20.99) gathers a quintet of submersible snacks—salmon, shrimp, calamari, clams, and mussels—allowing diners to sample the flavors of the Mediterranean Sea without the hassle of renting a wetsuit or soaking a business suit in water.