Best of Boston

There was so much dissension on the staff over this one that our only solution was to choose a fabulous little place fifty miles away. It has no checkered tablecloths (no noncheckered tablecloths either), no murals or Muzak. What it does have is excellent food—baked veal chops, homemade escarole soup, gnocchi, and various daily specials—at prices that belong at a cafe in the foothills of the Apennines.