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Fine diners, don't be deterred by this unassuming corner restaurant's front bar, where clusters of fans bark at TV sports. Venture on—first into a casual dining room, where the tall seatbacks of three romantic booths resemble cresting waves, and then into the sunset-colored dining room—and you'll find a hidden pearl in the spirited, creative cooking of Anthony Rinaldi. The executive chef worked at Eleven Madison Park and Vong before returning to his native Brooklyn, and the big-city polish shows. Italian and American meat, veggie, and pasta dishes are accented with complex and exotic touches, as in the prosciutto-wrapped pork tenderloin, accompanied by sun-dried-tomato-infused whipped potatoes and a chutney of pine nuts and sweet yellow raisins. Rinaldi's service at Aquagrill is also well represented in a nice array of raw and baked shellfish offerings and creative, fresh fish dishes: A salty cut of tilapia, its crisp, browned skin draped in ginger-beet sauce, nestles on a bed of bursting shrimp and creamy mascarpone risotto. The chef's focus on seasonal ingredients make daily specials especially enticing. But whatever you order, throw caution out the window for dessert: Finish with the restaurant's signature Fried Ice Cream, a giant ball of ice cream wrapped in banana bread, battered, deep-fried, and drenched in caramel. — Daniel Maurer

Sunday brunch is served from noon to 3 p.m.; the garden is open during warm weather, and a fireplace warms up cold winter evenings.

Lobster ravioli, $16; prosciutto-wrapped pork tenderloin, $25; fried ice cream, $9; seafood paella with chicken and chorizo, $24