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Give credit to Orbit's founder, Dee Hengstler, for bringing this tasteful restaurant/bar to the humble environs of far East Harlem. In a neighborhood marked by fading bodegas, gypsy cab services and comida criolla joints, Orbit offers locals a swanky alternative: live jazz, a genial atmosphere and a sophisticated, if not always successful, menu. Dinners start on a high note with lightly toasted crostini topped with garlic-marinated white beans. Yet the chicharron de pollo entrée, marinated overnight in Bacardi rum, is surprisingly bland given the dish's Latin pedigree. Handmade pastas fill out a large chunk of the menu, with daily raviolis like cod in sage and butter sauce constituting the most unusual. — Jon Steinberg

Mon.–Sat., 4 p.m.–7 p.m.; $1 off all drinks, $5 frozen drinks

Roasted duck rolls, $9; steak aux poivre filet mignon, $22