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Everything about Orso–the wine carafes, the china, the photos on the wall, even the colors of the daubed paint job (all of which he chose)–is a reflection of Joe Allen's boundless passion for Italy. Though no other restaurant hosts so many Broadway stars and biggies, what gets Allen most excited is his paper-crusted pizza, the bristling olive- and broccoli-rabe- and oregano-strewn pastas, and the sauteed calf's-liver veneziana, which has more guts than most of the producers sitting in his front room. However, the best testament to Allen's longevity as one of the city's first bold-faced named restaurateurs is that Orso can be appreciated best at lunch, on a non-matinee day. Because that's when it's not a theater hot spot. It's just a really fine Italian restaurant. — Hal Rubenstein