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The affect of this new uptown arrival in the Village is a little startling, like having a flamingo suddenly turn up in a familiar old chicken coop. The traditional Sant Ambroeus gelatos are still intact, and so are the trays of sugar cookies, fruit tarts, and domed chocolate cakes, arrayed in colorful rows like a collection of Easter hats. Unfortunately, the Upper East Side prices are intact, too, especially at dinner, when a very fine beef carpaccio (served with flat shavings of Parmesan) and a good veal Milanese cost close to $54, not including a glass of wine or even bubbly water. If you can get over this sticker shock, most of the food (with the exception of the average pastas and risottos) is pretty good, albeit in a traditional, uptown way. If you can’t get over it, then drop in at breakfast time, when you can loiter at the espresso bar with all sorts of bewildered Village types and dine on semi-economical focaccia sandwiches and a single soft-boiled egg, served on a doily, in the proper Upper East Side manner, with toast points and a silver spoon. — Adam Platt

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