Eat Me

Agata & Valentina, on the Upper East Side, opened a restaurant recently. One would think, given the caliber of the store's goods, that the place would serve some good food.

The food I had a few days ago ranged from Very Ordinary to Bad. I started with a quite passable lentil soup, and moved on to a gloppy mess of spaghetti with crab meat. It was the special, and the crab was from Maine (they said). Because I was ordering at A&V, I gave the main dish a chance, even though it had a cream sauce. I was thinking, Oh, maybe it's a twist on an inspired fettucini alfredo, with a fruit of the sea. I was thinking, My special will help me ignore this terrible music.

(Some days I'll do anything to get close to Maine.)

And so: an unlucky streak with Italian restaurants continues. I guess there's always West Village Pizza (12th Street, off Sixth Avenue) . . . .