Donatella Mediterranean Bistro

It’s easy to fall into a European reverie at this follow-up to the late La Cucina di Donatella. Just don’t order the bruschetta—the bread tastes stale, the tomatoes are pale and tinny, and nothing will snap you out of that reverie quicker. Instead, get the excellent octopus salad, warm tentacles mingling with briny capers and plump olives, and Donatella’s famous lasagna, featuring impeccably tender housemade noodles. And don’t skip dessert: The Vulcan, a chocolate Bundt cake filled with gelato and hot fudge and topped with orange liquor, is far enough removed from lava cake that you can keep your foodie cred.