On a good day, a welcoming garden

In what is sometimes an overwhelming barrage of different ethnic restaurants on Fourth Street, Puccini's La Dolce Vita provides a soothing return to classical Italian. During the warmer months, thick bushes of hydrangeas engulf the wrought iron gates of the patio, enclosing the tables in what feels more like an Italian garden than a restaurant. Here one feels encouraged to sip on a good pinot grigio and chat with friends.\nInside is a different story. In 1998, two neighboring buildings merged to create what exists today. Although the entryway is charming, the dining rooms feel a bit stuffy and discombobulated. Tables are crammed into what is already a small space, making table chatter audible from every section of the room. The formal white linens, crown molding and chandeliers don't quite hold up to the bright, eclectic nature of the wall paintings.\nLuckily for me, the service more than made up for faults in the indoor decor.\nAs I sat at my table for lunch, pondering the extensive menu of Mediterranean and Italian dishes, I noticed that there was a very limited selection of salads.\nHowever, the waitress not only offered salads from the dinner menus but also went back to the kitchen to prepare my poached pear salad with her own hands. And it turned out beautifully refreshing: crisp greens with a diffuse sheen of raspberry vinaigrette and a whisper of port wine, accented with half a poached pear and tangy blue cheese.\nOn another visit, I was not impressed with the seafood, which was a bit overcooked and chewy. The pasta, however, was exquisite.\nFettuccine was perfectly al denté with a creamy pesto sauce that wasn't too heavy. The tomato cream and bolognese were both robust and unpretentious, letting the full flavors of the tomatoes and herbs emerge.\nIn a landscape of modest and simple but satisfying pastas and salads, Chef Careina knows just how to merge American tastes with authentic Mediterranean flavors.\nBut, as if to offset the appeal, there are a number of unremarkable dishes as well, most of which involve meat.\nPanko bread crumbs provided a pleasant surprise in a chicken dish that was, unfortunately, otherwise dry and boring.\nThere was the standard Italian tiramisu and cannoli for dessert, but the crunchy, sweet biscotti with coffee made for a tasteful and serene meal ending.\nA meal at Puccini's always has the possibility of grandeur. When Puccini's is at its best, only unfussy, undecorated, comfortable dishes greet you with a soothing old-world simplicity that calls to home.