Crowds still cherish Lidia Bastianich's renowned northern Italian cooking.

The Scene
Since 1981, the brightest star in Lydia Matticchio Bastianich's expanding culinary universe has endeared special occasioners, expense accounters, and food-driven tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the cookbook author and TV chef in action. As a result, the formal bar is standing-room-only, and two cozy downstairs dining rooms, handsomely appointed with mahogany details, luxurious linens, and sparkling crystal, can feel cramped.

The Food
The lengthy menu, inspired by Bastianich's native Istria and surrounding northern Italian provinces, is as imaginative as ever. Reliable signatures include three-cheese ''Istrian wedding pillows'' laced with citrus zest in rich rum-veal reduction; tangy preserved lemon-roasted branzino; and al dente (though often under-seasoned) seafood risotto. But careless missteps in executive chef Fortunato Nicotra's kitchen -- whether overcooked baby cuttlefish, rock-hard focaccia, or gluey gnocchi in undistinguished wild boar stew -- are hard to forgive at these prices. Desserts, like warm chocolate crepes, are simple and satisfying.