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Named after Italy's formidable red wine, Amarone Ristorante provides theater-goers willing to venture over to Ninth Avenue with flavorful Northern and Southern Italian fare. The restaurant uses exposed bricks, marbleized beige walls, and muted sconce lighting to create a mellow mood—though the restaurant is made perkier by colorful art assemblages, black and white photographs, and wine bottles lined up like soldiers along the walls. Starters tack seaward with grilled or fried calamari, mussels in white wine, or crab cake nestled in pesto sauce. The fava bean salad is also a good opener, with tomatoes, olives, arugula and onions in a lemony dressing. But it's the pastas that shine here, especially orecchiette, with each little al dente ear mixed with leeks, prosciutto, and smoked mozzarella in a pink sauce, as well as ethereal spinach pappardelle in a meaty Bolognese sauce. Shiitake mushrooms and a touch of earthy truffle paste adorn straccetti. Entrées like chicken and veal are sauced with white wine, tomatoes, rosemary, and lemon. The scalloppine al gorgonzola is doused in a velvety and mild sauce made with the famous blue cheese; medallions of pork are sautéed with brandy and asparagus slices. Piscine preparations include salmon in a hearty Barolo wine sauce. Italian wines, like the restaurant's namesake, are ideal accompaniments. — Michael Anstendig

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Orecchiette, $15.95; spinach pappardelle, $18.95