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The eye-catching bright red exterior is the first sign that this isn't your typical Upper West Side eatery. Inside, miniature mirrors, exposed brick walls, and tiny oil paintings give the cozy, pale-yellow room a bohemian touch. But it's the menu that really takes you away. Making stops in Morocco, Tunisia, France, and Italy, the food is all over the map, in the best possible way. Brik, a hard-to-find Tunisian specialty of phyllo dough stuffed with tuna, potato and egg, is so good you may wonder why the menu bothers to venture beyond North Africa at all. Unremarkable pastas, from spaghetti marinara to linguine with clams, distract from what really shines, like the b'stilla, an alluring, pastry pie layered with chicken, almonds, egg, and cinnamon, and topped with powdered sugar. It’s a dish that will hold your interest through the night and nag at you until a return visit. Though, disappointingly, not served in the traditional conical ceramic dish, the tomatoey chicken tagine brims with bell-pepper soaked cous cous, and comes alive with a dollop of fiery harissa. The smiles of the worldly youngsters and Lincoln Center refugees enjoying the chocolate mousse, crème brûlée, and house-made pastries, make a great case, however, for why the desserts should keep their French roots. — Kathleen Squires

B'stilla, $24.95; brik, $8.75