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The 10021 zip code gave a genteel cheer when specialty grocer Agata & Valentina opened a restaurant across the street from the store. This built-in fan base buoyed the restaurant through its first few months, as the kitchen developed more complex Italian dishes than the grocery's take-home standards. Now settled in as a polished spot all its own with a distinct Sicilian character, A&V turns out flavors that are assertive, occasionally surprising, and often salty: Bottarga (tuna roe) delivers an intense, briny snap to spaghetti with pine nuts and lemon zest; tennis-ball-size arancini (fried, stuffed rice balls) soak up a strongly seasoned beef ragu and the pasta pesto might catch you off guard with its ruddy, tomato-based, almond-sweetened sauce. The warmly lit dining room—from the buzzy, high-ceilinged area up front to the quieter, low-ceilinged space in back—reaches a busy peak in the morning, when undercaffeinated neighbors flock to the espresso bar. — Jennifer Paull

A mezzanine-level dining room can be booked for private parties of up to 40 people.

Arancini di riso, $12; spaghetti alla bottarga di tonno, $18

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New York Magazine Reviews

• Gael Greene's Full Review (2/12/07)