Piccolo Venice (CLOSED)

Tucked away off the Venice boardwalk at the end of a cul-de-sac, an evening in Italy—we are in Venice after all—awaits: Waiters welcome you with "buona sera" and a roaring fireplace and chandelier set the mood at this dinner-only ristorante. A basket of assorted breads—we dare you not to fill up on the warm, doughy pillows of foccaccia and the like—arrive at the table, as bottles and half bottles from Italy and California are poured. You can't go wrong with any dish from antipasti to dolci—and you'll definitely want to save room for dessert—but we're partial to lingua ($16), rectangles of tender beef tongue elegantly presented alongside dip-to-season accompaniments from salt to roasted garlic purée, and the entire list of handmade pastas like sublime tortelli ($23), filled with sweet roasted beets and finished with brown butter-sage sauce and Parmesan-poppy seeds.