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Pasta, pasta, and more pasta

Compiled by Linda Perney | NYNewsday.com

Everyone's favorite: spaghetti and meatballs (AP photo)

Spaghetti, tortellini, ziti. Fusili, lasagne, rigatoni. With meatballs, with anchovies, with lobster. With red sauce, with carbonara sauce, with clam sauce, with alfredo sauce. However you look at it, pasta is one of our favorite foods. Here's where to find it.

BROOKLYN
Amorina. Brand new, Amorina serves up classic pastas like spaghetti and meatballs, rigatoni with olives and rosemary, and fusilli with artichoke and fennel in a retro-looking space complete with menu boards and red-checked cloths on the tables.(624 Vanderbilt Avenue; 718-230-3030)

Lento's. Although there are branches in Park Slope and Staten Island, this is the original, opened in the '30s and still giving off the feeling of old New York. This is the kind of comfortable place Brooklynites flock to: a big wooden bar, a tile floor, and wooden booths. The pastas are tasty and varied: spaghetti with meatballs that taste like they were made at home; linguini with clam sauce; ziti with meat sauce. And on and on and on. (7001 Third Avenue; 718-745-9197)

Bamonte's. If you had to choose one pasta dish to take to a desert island, it might just be Bamonte's ravioli, stuffed with cheese and served with a light, flavorful tomato sauce. On the other hand, it could be the chicken and spinach lasagne. The perfection of those classic preparations explain why this place has been a neighborhood favorite for the century or so it's been around. (32 Withers Street; 718-384-8831)

Fragole. In the heart of Carroll Gardens' Italian neighborhood, Fragole keeps tradition alive with a terrific selection of classic pastas -- from fettuccine with wild mushrooms and cream to black linguini with shrimp and tomato. Classic lasagne, too. (394 Court Street; 718-522-7133)

MANHATTAN

Otto Enoteca Pizzeria. They're better known for the pizza -- which is great -- but the pasta is worth a trip to the restaurant, too. Don't expect meatballs and spaghetti, though. The offerings here are a little more sophisticated: penne with hazlenuts and squash; thin spaghetti with zucchini and chiles. Then again, if you want tradition, they have a spaghetti carbonara that's just right. (1 Fifth Avenue; 212-995-9559)

Artepasta. Cheap and cheerful, the restaurant has more than a dozen pastas listed on the menu; the two high-ceilinged dining rooms are airy, with big windows overlooking the street. The food is tasty, and where else in the Village are you going to eat dinner for less than $20? (81 Greenwich Avenue; 212-229-0234)

Becco. If you really need a pasta fix, it's hard to find a better choice. Every lunchtime and evening, there's the pasta selection -- three choices -- plus a caesar salad, all for $21.95 ($16.95 at lunchtime). The selections change every day, but the rule of thumb is: there's usually something stuffed -- ravioli, lasagne, tortellini; something with tomato and basil; and something with meat or fish. (355 West 46th Street; 212-397-7597)

Gabriel's. They may not have as many choices as some other places, but you can't go wrong with the mushroom lasagne, the squash-filled ravioli, or the gorgonzola-filled tortelloni. With its bright walls and careful lighting, this is a welcoming on a blustery spring day -- especially good if you're heading to Lincoln Center. (11 West 60th Street; 212-956-4600)

BRONX

Roberto's. You don't come here to admire the decor. You come here to eat - preferably with a crowd. The is Italian home-cooking with verve, and the portions are massive. The menu lists a good selection of pastas, starters, and main courses, but the best way to order is to check the blackboard for the specials: radiattore with porcini and cream; pasta baked in tin foil with cherry tomatoes and ricotta .... you get the picture. (632 East 186th Street; 718-733-9503)

QUEENS

Piccola Venezia. In a room awash in marble and linen, Picola Venezia serves up a good choice of pastas, from ravioli stuffed with pumpkin puree to squid ink pasta in lobster sauce to tortelloni in an osso buco sauce. The service is helpful -- if you have a taste for something that's not on the menu, they'll do their best to provide it. (42-01 28th Avenue, Astoria; 718-721-8470)