Café Alaia

Looking for a truly warm and expansive spot serving special Italian cuisine? Come to this rustic-chic café, prettified with double-height ceilings, exposed wooden beams, and an ample bar. There are two rooms, each long and narrow but wonderfully comfortable and always abuzz. Beautiful flower arrangements and large-format wine bottles put patrons in a specially festive mood.
Thoughtfully arranged tables may be cradled with such impressively rich plates as sformatino di melanzane in a tomato-cream sauce crowned with burrata; followed by rigatoni al pomodoro, underscoring sweet and tart tomato sauce, basil, and EVOO. The Milanese with a wedge of lemon and freshly cracked black pepper is a textbook instance of simplicity being the peak of this elegant cooking.