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Neapolitan cooking is at its best when cooks adhere to the simple virtues of fresh and unencumbered; by those standards, Ann and Tony's succeeds. On the quiet side of Arthur Avenue, this fifth generation Bronx landmark provides a modest but neat dining room, a sedate spot with paintings of the Bay of Sorrento and Mt. Vesuvius bracketed with oak frames meant to resemble baroque windows. Not as well known as other Belmont restaurants like Dominick's and Mario's, Ann and Tony's settles instead for a less glossy yet easy charm. Chef and occasional waiter Anthony Napolitano is the latest of his family in charge, focusing on well-crafted ingredients, such as just-made mozzarella and lightly sautéed plum tomatoes for sauce, while avoiding the oil and garlic excesses of bad Italo-American cookery. A rolled, lightly breaded eggplant appetizer stuffed with fresh ricotta is airy and subtle; well-pounded veal Sorrentino layered with paper-thin slices of prosciutto, eggplant and mozzarella melds together winningly; and clams Posillipo are briny and bracing. — Jack Robertiello

Veal Sorrentino, $22; rolled eggplant, $9; clams Posillipo, $19