Don Angie

Husband-and-wife chefs Scott Tacinelli and Angie Rito have a knack for eye-popping food. For Quality Italian, they created the chicken-Parm pizza, a giant disc of poultry smothered in bubbly, golden cheese that’s like a finance titan’s idea of Sunday gravy. The duo take a playful, boisterous approach to Italian-American cooking and have a real fondness for pasta. At Don Angie, there’s lasagna for two and a technique rarely seen in this city: two-toned dough. In this case, the candy-wrapper-looking caramelle pasta are given zebra stripes from black sesame and intertwined so that it doesn’t look all that unlike an old-school candy. It’s filled not with sugar but seasoned Italian buffalo-milk ricotta and a brown-butter sauce, honey-pickled persimmon, shallot, black-sesame purée, and opal basil. Spins on Italian-American favorites are peppered throughout the menu, like the stuffed-garlic flatbread, a Caesar-esque salad made with chrysanthemum greens, and a prime-rib braciole. Drinks from Bryan Schneider (who worked at Clover Club, Daniel, and Quality Italian) stick to the Italian-American theme, like the Americano, the classic Italian aperitif poured over espresso ice. If cocktails aren’t your thing, the wine list will emphasize Italian wines and American vintages made using Italian grapes.