Palma

Fulfilling all romantic expectations on film-set cute Cornelia Street is Palma, which evokes the Italian countryside with its antique wooden tables, rickity paper light fixtures and simple, whitewashed walls. A salad of olive-oil-drizzled tomatoes and lobster is voluptuously sweet; perfectly browned artichoke hearts are addictive. Try the homemade spinach-and-ricotta stuffed agnolotti for an intoxicating blend of cream and piquancy or the rich, meaty swordfish punctuated by capers and olives. Don’t burn your tongue on the steaming espresso (which is playfully accompanied by a wand of rock candy) and you might agree: This sort of dining makes its own magic to rival the movies.