Profile

Pesce Pasta is a quiet, reliable spot for its namesake seafood and pasta dishes. At first glance, the cozy dining room feels generic: butcher-paper-covered tables, framed maps, and landscapes of Italy, with specials written in marker on gilded mirrors. But an exposed-brick wall, low lighting, and the dark hardwood floor make for a warm, settled atmosphere that’s a notch above the noisy kitsch of dime-a-dozen Little Italy and theater-district clones. On the plate, Pesce Pasta delivers—the poached rings of calamari and plump steamed shrimp are ocean-fresh, and the Maine lobsters and daily fish specials satisfy. Not to be overlooked are the land-bound dishes; marble-size gnocchi are tender and dense, and hefty chicken parmigiana comes in a flattened portion as round and huge as a clock face, the meat still tender under a subtle layer of breading. — Laurel A. Fantauzzo

Linguine shrimp calamari, $17.75; gnocchi, $16.75; chicken Parmigiana, $17.95