What Don Angie is doing, technically, is taking Italian-American as a cuisine seriously rather than ironically, and that distinction is the whole achievement. The pinwheel lasagne is the clearest example: it is engineered, each sheet rolled to an identical diameter so the cross-section reads cleanly when sliced, and the construction is closer to pastry discipline than to home cooking. Most kitchens that reference Italian-American do it with a wink. Rito and Tacinelli do it with a rolling pin and a ruler.
The chicken scarpariello is the dish I would point a technique-minded eater toward. The skin is crisped after the braise rather than before, which is the harder sequence and the reason the texture is right, and the vinegar and chili are pushed to the edge of aggressive in the way the genuine Italian-American canon always intended before American restaurants sanded it down. The lumache with pink peppercorn shows the same willingness to commit to a flavour rather than hint at it.
This is destination cooking, and the booking reflects it. Order broadly, do not skip the tiramisu, and come understanding that the kitchen's confidence is the point.
Note: Reservations open thirty days out and vanish within minutes; set an alarm for the drop, or try the small number of walk-in counter seats at opening.
