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The name signifies a gimmick, but it's a welcome one. Every region of Italy is represented by at least one dish on Regional's menu, making for a refreshing change from the profusion of cookie-cutter Italian joints in the area. The distinction continues in the décor: Two stacks of wine barrels and alternating green and orange canvases adorn an otherwise sleekly sparse space. In the culinary fog of the Upper West Side, Regional is a beacon of consistent cooking. If the main dishes are consistently average (cod over wan peppers and onions, tasty but grisly lamb chops), the pastas are consistently excellent, especially simple preparations and those with rich ragus. Bucatini comes tangled with a mess of sweet onions and not-too-salty bits of pancetta. And the duck and lamb ragus that coat whole wheat bigoli and spaghetti alla chittara, respectively, deliver enough depth of flavor to qualify as real bargains. — JJ Goode

Bucatini with onions and pancetta, $13.50; zabaglione with seasonal berries, $6.50