A food service worker prepares pizza at Ristorante Bella Etna at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, July 31, 2020. Earlier this month, Bella Etna was named best overseas galley for 2025, marking the seventh time it has won the Capt. Edward F. Ney Memorial Award, the Navy’s highest honor for food service. (Triniti Lersch/U.S. Navy)

NAPLES, Italy — If there’s a secret to keeping service members well-fed and happy, the galley at the Navy’s largest air station in Italy has the recipe for it down pat.

Ristorante Bella Etna at Naval Air Station Sigonella on the Italian island of Sicily recently received the Capt. Edward F. Ney Memorial Food Service Award as the best overseas galley for 2025, the base said in a statement Thursday.

Given annually, it’s the Navy’s highest honor for food service, and NAS Sigonella has now won it seven times over the past 15 years. The recipients were named April 3.

“We try to make Bella Etna feel like a home away from home,” Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joe Mattia, food service officer for Bella Etna, said in the statement.

Galley employees put in significant effort and long hours to achieve a five-star rating, Mattia said. Earning the rating means a galley can then be nominated for the award, which recognizes the best general messes — onshore and at sea — in the fleet.

The galley team’s efforts this year included showcasing the culinary skills of local Italian employees along with creative offerings, such as presenting seafood in a boat, and crepe and gelato stations. Hearty steak and rotisserie chicken entrees along with various side dishes also were on the menu during the inspection, the statement said.

A worker serves lunch at Ristorante Bella Etna at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, April 16, 2025. Bella Etna was announced earlier in the month as a winner of the Capt. Edward F. Ney Memorial Award, recognizing it as the best overseas galley for 2025. It’s the seventh time Sigonella’s galley has earned the Navy’s highest honor for food service. (Sebastian Portieleslopez/U.S. Navy)

While demonstrating cooking prowess is important, the rigorous evaluation also includes a spot inspection of the galley and of the food itself by members of the International Food Service Executives Association, or IFSEA, and senior Navy mess management leaders.

Galleys must score 95% or higher in all categories evaluated to earn a five-star rating, according to the statement.

“The team’s dedication and work ethic allowed us to win the Ney, and there’s nothing better than that for culinary specialists,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Ben Gregoire, who works at Bella Etna.

The award was established in 1958 by the Navy secretary and IFSEA, a professional organization for people in the hospitality industry. It is named for Ney, who oversaw the service’s food procurement during World War II.

Every day, the galley at Sigonella feeds U.S. and NATO service members assigned to the installation and its 39 tenant commands. It also periodically opens to Italian military personnel, Defense Department civilians, contactors and local national Italian personnel working at the installation, according to the statement.

Other 2025 award winners include Naval Base San Diego and Naval Station Meridian, Miss., the Navy said.