L'Impero - View this location on map L'Impero digs deeply into the robust, generous spirit of the Italian countryside, turning out dishes full of flavors that are joyous and highly refined, served in a dining room that emanates a gracious warmth. Though you can opt for a conventional appetizer-main course approach, L'Impero's $48 tasting menu is a great alternative. It's hard to imagine a more satisfying appetizer than a pool of creamy polenta, served with a small copper pot of fricasseed mushroom. Flavors grow louder and more assertive in the pastas. Spaghetti with sea urchin is piquant and distinct. Main courses quietly satisfy rather than excite. An exception is roasted capretto, or baby goat, a robust dish with potatoes and artichokes. Venison is tender and luxurious with chestnut spaetzle, while a seared fillet of branzino over rosemary-scented lentils is moist and full of flavor. If L'Impero has a weak point, it is the desserts. Slender sesame cannoli are decent, and chocolate 'soup' is both as awful and delicious as it sounds says the New York Times. 45 Tudor City Place, New York, New York Restaurant L'Impero - View this location on map L'Impero digs deeply into the robust, generous spirit of the Italian countryside, turning out dishes full of flavors that are joyous and highly refined, served in a dining room that emanates a gracious warmth. Though you can opt for a conventional appetizer-main course approach, L'Impero's $48 tasting menu is a great alternative. It's hard to imagine a more satisfying appetizer than a pool of creamy polenta, served with a small copper pot of fricasseed mushroom. Flavors grow louder and more assertive in the pastas. Spaghetti with sea urchin is piquant and distinct. Main courses quietly satisfy rather than excite. An exception is roasted capretto, or baby goat, a robust dish with potatoes and artichokes. Venison is tender and luxurious with chestnut spaetzle, while a seared fillet of branzino over rosemary-scented lentils is moist and full of flavor. If L'Impero has a weak point, it is the desserts. Slender sesame cannoli are decent, and chocolate 'soup' is both as awful and delicious as it sounds says the New York Times. 45 Tudor City Place, New York, New York Restaurant

---