West Village, Manhattan · restaurant
Exposed brick, straw-wrapped wine bottles, wooden beams — the room has the warm, slightly theatrical Italian farmhouse feel of Balthazar and Minetta Tavern, and it's from the same people. The dry-aged porterhouse for two is the move for a real dinner; the cacio e pepe is why regulars keep coming back. Easier to get a reservation here than most of its trendier neighbors on Waverly.