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A young boy, Joe, rushes to grab a number at an Italian bakery as the camera glides through a “Chef’s Table”-style symphony of sweets: a cannoli being filled, a tiramisu being dusted, cases of pignoli, red-and-green Neapolitan cookies, steaming zeppole.

Levy calls them cookies, as they are inspired by his favorite Italian pignoli cookies from then-legendary Manhattan bakery Veniero’s, but to me, because they are so subtly sweet and fruit-flavored, they read more like an extra-special “energy bite.”

That helped inspire her to try her hand at the classic Italian treat — alongside others that she didn’t like as a kid but has reimagined, including taralli, a crisp, savory pastry flavored with olive oil and wine; pignoli cookies; and cassata cake.

Ever protective, the city’s Chamber of Commerce strictly limits the official recipe to Mediterranean pignoli, Ligurian extra-virgin olive oil, Genoese basil leaves, garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchio, Pecorino Fiore Sardo, coarse sea salt and nothing else, ever.

A bibb salad containing nothing more than lettuce, red onions, sun-dried tomatoes, Gorgonzola, and a scattering of pignoli in a citrus vinaigrette is good enough to become your go-to salad for, well, decades.