Cafe Nuovo

Description:

• This spacious room of glass, marble, and burnished wood occupies part of the ground floor of a downtown office tower that overlooks the confluence of the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket rivers. (It makes an ideal overlook for the WaterFire events.) Unlike its local competitor, Al Forno, which gets the greater share of praise and ink (largely undeserved), Cafe Nuovo takes reservations, is open for lunch and dinner, and impresses with every course, from dazzling appetizers to stunning pastries. The fare may be grounded in the Italian repertoire, but it skips lightly among other inspirations, too -- Greek and Portuguese among them. That culinary restlessness leads to such dishes as the macadamia-and-goat-cheese-crusted rack of lamb with Swiss chard and white zinfandel sauce. There's music on weekends and outdoor dining in warm weather. Restaurants come and go, but Cafe Nuovo endures, steady and embracing.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010