Lavagna

Comfortable yet genteel, white-tablecloth Lavagna proves that in the East Village, chic doesn’t have to be shabby. The kitchen prepares individual pizzas in a wood-burning oven as well as pastas like rigatoni tossed with spicy sausage, peas and tomato. Daily specials and the three-pound roasted fish for two are punched up with intriguing spices and relishes. By and large, entrées, such as a roasted rack of lamb (curiously mated with corona beans), give the menu an unexpected eclectic boost over the usual grandma’s-recipe dishes.