Pastalina's Restaurant

Telephone: 781-391-3780

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tue.-Sat., closed Sun. and Mon.

Bathroom not handicap accessible

No smoking

No reservations

Visa, MC, AE, Discover credit cards accepted

When it opened in 1997, Pastalina's was a tiny takeout pasta shop that barely had standing room for waiting customers, let alone seating for eat-in dining. Then, three years ago, an adjacent retail space became available and chef-owner Rocco Ciccone seized the opportunity. Down came the connecting wall, in went tables and chairs. Suddenly, Pastalina's had what it had never had before: a dining room.

It's not big or elaborately decorated, but there's something quietly elegant in its minimalism. There are no designer furnishings, no trendy lighting -- just exposed brick, burnt orange walls, and a sky-blue ceiling swirled with white clouds. Add delicate cloth napkins and tablecloths, thin-stemmed wine glasses, dangling lights, and Sinatra and Bocelli crooning overhead, and the end result is a classy rusticity.

Like the dining room, the menu has a focused simplicity. Veal, chicken, and homemade pasta are the main choices, and the limited offerings allow Ciccone, who has worked at several restaurants in the North End, to execute all of them quite well. Ciccone -- who named the restaurant in tribute to his mother, Lina Ciccone -- is a devout believer in fresh cooking, making all his food daily, and his sauces twice daily. No leftovers, he vows, are used the following day; everything is made from scratch again in the morning.

We admire that philosophy, although it has a downfall, which we learned on a recent Friday evening when we tried to order the lasagna, meatballs, sausage, cheesecake, and tiramisu, all of which were gone. "I make everything in the morning, and when I run out, I run out," Ciccone explained.

The manicotti ($8.25) was a consolation prize, with an emphasis on prize: four tubes of pasta stuffed with an excellent light ricotta filling, ladled with marinara and heaped with romano. Chicken, ziti, and broccoli in garlic and olive oil ($10.50) was generously tossed with tender chicken and crisp broccoli. Chicken piccata ($10.75, $14 with veal) is dipped in a very good egg batter and tenderized in white wine, lemon, and capers.

Braciolettine alla marsala ($14, or $11.50 with chicken) is a veal cutlet rolled with prosciutto and provolone and served in mushroom-marsala sauce. The veal was a bit tough, but the sweet wine sauce has wonderful flavor. A combo plate of tender chicken and thin-sliced eggplant parmesan ($10) was marred by too much salt. But angel hair pasta in pesto sauce, redolent with basil and pine nuts, was perfect.

For dessert, we had cannoli ($2.75), the only dessert left. They're good plain, and even better topped with chocolate sauce and cocoa. For those who want to imbibe, know that, while Pastalina's doesn't have a liquor license, you can bring your own alcohol or have it ordered from a liquor store across the street.

SACHA PFEIFFER