Pic courtesy of Sfoglia
Despite the hundreds (thousands?) of Italian restaurants in the city, Sfoglia, a spinoff of a Nantucket spot, managed to transfix Manhattanites from the moment it hit the way-upper Upper East Side. Amazingly, it’s not overrated. Rustic and slightly unexpected preparations like ricotta gnocchi with rock shrimp, rabe, raisins, and lemon cream seem all the more arresting because they don’t have a celeb-chef name attached. (The talented Ron Suhanosky, ex of Il Buco, runs the kitchen.) The room is warm and gorgeously tasteful too, and there’s virtually nothing annoying about this place (a rare achievement), except that everyone else has figured that out too, and reservations are a pain in the butt—so that can be annoying.
Sfoglia. 1402 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St.; (212) 831-1402.
Prices/Features: MOD, VGT (See Welcome to Salmaland for key to letter abbreviations.)