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Portofino owner Larry Cresci has decorated the adjoining rooms of his large restaurant warmly, evoking the Italian countryside on the Upper East Side. Fried calamari might be a soggy staple of frat bars everywhere, but here they are sublime – give in and get an order. Basic pastas are rich and warming – satisfying across the boards. But don’t overlook meat dishes like Anatra alla Scappi -- duck in plum sauce -- a toothsome surprise with crackly sweet skin covering rich, gamy meat. The menu is a constantly changing homage to the cuisine of twenty different regions of Italy. — Laura Brounstein

A tasty, not-so-little antipasto platter comes gratis after you order, priming taste buds for good things to come with tangy Parmesan chunks, caponata, salamis, and other treats.