DINING OUT WITH MARCY MACDONALD

VILLA PAZZO

If you've passed the corner of Bleecker and 7th Avenue eleven hundred times without quite realizing that a new restaurant has appeared there: it's time to wake up and smell the garlic! VILLA PAZZO, an authentic -- but really, really authentic -- Sicilian experience awaits. Although his name doesn't even sound Italian, A.J. Black has created a few good reasons to join the happy crowd behind the glass door. First, his Italian hospitality is subtle: he treats you as a member of his family who doesn't appreciate toadies -- no hovering waiters; no pretentious 'eat!eat!eat!' when all you really want is three orders of the Prosciutto Con Pere (the parma surrounding the pear is so thinly sliced that you could read through it). Second: he knows his squid (the island of Sicily is surrounded by them), and doesn't cut them into cheerio-like rings, but serves his Calamari Allerga as if it were steak embelished with lemon, capers, a squirt of pinot grigio reduction and near-invisible cream. You might want to follow with the Linguine all a Paesana, again tossed in a pino grigio based sauce, loaded with shrimp braised in olive oil with garlic and parsley. Third: he won't try to talk you out of your favorite Chianti Classico (say a Recca de la Macia 2001), but may suggest that the Spauna Reserva from the Piedmont might be more interesting with yourPork Chop con Porcini -- or the Veal chop Favola, surrounded by sauteed figs in a wine reduction, flavored further with a splash of truffle oil. Incidently, you can smell the heavenly fragrant black trufflees in the Rigatoni all a Norcina whether they're at your table or the one furthest away. Fourth: save room for desert -- until you've had their tiramisu, you may not have experienced eating every single calorie of a portion quite this large, before. And most importantly, fifth: Black's artist/wife Jolene painted the interior of the restaurant in Mediterranean colors that warm the light of a winter's luncheon, and reflect the warmth of dinner candelight.

Villa Pazzo 212-488-2700

296 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village at 7th Avenue