Here, in a city with such a strong Italian heritage, you might think that excellent Italian restaurants would abound. Before coming to New York City, I believed just that– I pictured myself popping out to the corner Italian bistro every week or so for a gorgeous meal that I could never prepare at home. But the reality is that New York is home to a lot of really disappointing Italian cooking, much of it ironically in Little Italy. I really have never figured out why this is the case, especially with the easy access Gothamites have to the best-quality ingredients, imported and domestic.

Because of this confusion, it took HungryMan and me months to locate the good stuff in NYC. Of course, there’s always the Babbo option, but most of us mortals can’t afford weekly visits to a Mario Batali establishment, as much as we’d like to do so. What we were searching for is more in the mold of what you find in Milan or Rome: a casual restaurant with excellent food and a sensitivity to seasonal freshness of ingredients (something you will rarely see on Mulberry Street). Luckily for us, at a dinner party around this time last year, HungryMan sat opposite a Fran Drescher doppelganger and joined her in an animated conversation about the poor state of Itailan food in the city. He came home that night telling how this woman kept cawing, “Gennaro! Gennaro! You haaave to go to Gennaro! Just bring cash– they dont take caaaads.”

How could we resist? We did what we were told. I count this as one of the wisest moves we made in the past 12 months, because since that time, Gennaro has become our standby restaurant. When all other options fail, we know that we can always hop into a cab going up 10th Avenue and be eating well in 10 minutes. It wasn’t until we sat and talked about the restaurant in these terms that we realized how this was a turning point for us: having an Old Faithful dining spot is what makes urban life manageable for a foodie. Once you find it, you wear a groove in its floorboards, stake out a favorite table, and if you’re very lucky, eat several dozen good meals there. We’re working on doing this at Gennaro.

Part of the appeal is the antipasto platter, which is a muscly affair that serves at least two people– three or four if you’re each ordering main dishes. This appetizer is served on an elevated ring stand that holds the platter eight inches or so above the table– there’s a candle underneath, ostensibly to keep the plate warm, but it doesn’t need it. The height just adds to the drama of the platter, which is covered from end to end with an assortment of appetizers. There are always a few bruschette and a pile or two of juicy black olives, frequently several slices of golden grilled fennel and strips of marinated eggplant, and occasionally discs of roasted onion. We’ve also seen rock shrimp, white bean salad with fresh rosemary sprigs, tuna in oil, and a caponata dotted with pine nuts. But the antipasto changes with the season. What doesn’t change is how superb it is– not to mention filling. Our strategy has been to order the antipasto and one entrée (two if we’re ravenous). That is almost always plenty of food for us when we’re alone.

But another of Gennaro’s charms is its specials– they make it hard to resist ordering more food than you could possibly eat. On any given day, the number of special main dishes usually approaches or exceeds the number of permanent menu fixtures. Waiting tables at Gennaro must be a little like acting in a play whose script is being rewritten before each performance. To their great credit, the waitstaff always seem to know not only what the day’s featured dishes are, but what is in them and how they are prepared– no small feat. On our visit this week, we were offered five appetizer specials and five main dish specials, several of which featured zucchini, endive, and cauliflower (all in season right this very moment). It’s pointless to go into Gennaro with a plan that extends beyond the antipasto platter– inevitably, the specials woo you away. Case in point: this past January, we took Captain Nosh and Noshingtonienne for their first Gennaro meal with the intention of suggesting that the Captain order the Stinco di Agnello, a braised lamb shank served over couscous. Wishful thinking. When he and I heard about the special appetizer of sardines stuffed with golden raisins, rosemary, bread crumbs, and Italian parsley, we begged the chef to make us each a main-dish sized portion. He did, and since that day, those grilled sardines have become the stuff of legend. It’s like our own Beowulf, but a little fishier.

On our most recent trip to Gennaro, HungryMan ordered the special beef ravioli sauced very lightly in a rough and chunky marinara. Unsurprisingly, it was lush and tender. Ordering one of the smaller mains was probably a wise decision; my own choice of the special seafood risotto was too much food as a sequel to the massive antipasto platter. Nevertheless, it was delightful, with mussels, shrimp, and squid interspersed throughout. I also found the chopped radicchio to be a genius addition; it gave a very slightly bitter punch to the rice, a perfect counterpoint to the sweet sautéed onions. You may never see this risotto again, as it was a special item, but if you do, don’t hesitate to order it.

Wine at Gennaro is also very reasonable, with several bottles hovering around the $20 price point (including a delicious Montepulciano d’Abruzzo) and many more at around $30 and up. Coffee is very good, and desserts are great, but it’s a rare visit that finds us hungry enough to order it. That’ll be part of our long term Gennaro plan, I think– paring down our main dish orders so that we can peck away at the desserts. There are usually a few dessert specials in the mix, as well, so perhaps we’re setting ourselves an unreachable goal. But I can’t think of one I’m more looking forward to failing at than this one.

Gennaro, 665 Amsterdam Avenue (between 92nd and 93rd Streets), 212-665-5348