PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

If you're a fan of Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen on PBS, you'll be happy to know you can sample Lidia Bastianich's simple, hearty Italian cooking here. Becco, on Restaurant Row, is designed to serve her meals \"at a different price point\" (read: cheaper) than her East Side restaurant, Felidia. The prices are not rock-bottom, but in terms of service, portions, and quality, you get tremendous bang for your buck at Becco (which means to \"peck, nibble, or savor something in a discriminating way\"). The main courses can head north of the $20 mark, but take a look at the prix-fixe menu ($17 at lunch, $22 at dinner), which includes either a Caesar salad or antipasto plate, followed by a \"Symphony of Pasta,\" unlimited servings of the three fresh-made daily pastas. There's also an excellent selection of Italian wines at $25 a bottle. If you can't make up your mind about dessert, have them all: A tasting plate includes gelato, cheesecake, and whatever else the dessert chef has whipped up that day. Lidia herself does turn up at Becco and Felidia; you can even dine with her.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New York City 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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