Profile

Since 1974, this clubby Italian café, located across the street from Lincoln Center, has attracted sightseers, show biz professionals, and neighborhood types alike—and all pay inflated tourists’ prices. During recent renovations to expand the already roomy eatery, the dinged steel bar was outfitted with small brass plaques to commemorate the seats of devoted regulars (a nice touch). The bar is also the site of none-too-appetizing displays of cold and hot antipasti, over 30 dishes that are kept out all day, some staying warm over sternos. Even less appealing are the mounds of hanging cured meats, which, normally enticing, look oddly gory in this setting. The pizzas are still a draw, singled out by New York’s Gael Greene as among the city’s best. — Gabriella Gershenson