L'Artusi

Does bigger always mean better? After being open for barely a year, West Village eatery Dell'Anima decided it needed to stretch out. So they did what any hot, miniscule restaurant property would do: build another location twice the size and hope the crowds come, which we're betting they will. Visitors to L'Artusi can expect more of the same that they got at Dell'Anima: seasonal Italian, focused around whatever's fresh at the moment, with a few standby classics (spaghetti and meatballs, har har). Menu's divided into Pesce, Pasta, Crudo, Carne, Verdura; highlights include a mean frisee salad with poached egg and speck, as well as whatever chef Gabriel Thompson's current octopus preperation is (on last check, an awesome carb-heavy one: celery, zeppole, mantecado). Killer Italian vino list isn't to be ignored, but word to the wise: scramble for a rezzie, lest you wait half an hour at the bar for a two-top.