Via Trenta Osteria & Wine Bar

Via Trenta presents an Italian osteria and wine bar centered on housemade pasta, with enough seafood, meat and pizza to accommodate a table with different preferences. Its menu makes the pasta work specific rather than leave it as a general promise: beet gnocchi, cavatelli, ribbons of pappardelle and filled ravioli give the diner several shapes and sauces to consider. A meal here can follow those differences or place one pasta between a shared antipasto and a larger main. That flexibility is a useful part of its appeal in Astoria.

Beet gnocchi come with a four-cheese sauce. Cavatelli combine housemade Italian sausage, broccoli rabe, garlic, oil and peperoncino. Linguine with Manila clams take a simpler white-wine-and-garlic direction, while black linguine bring shrimp, calamari, mussels and clams into a spicy fra diavolo sauce. The preparations show why two pasta orders need not amount to the same meal: the relationship among shape, vegetables, shellfish and sauce changes from one plate to another.

The antipasti give those dishes an appropriate beginning. Arancini hold beef ragù and mozzarella; baby artichokes come with pistachio and Parmigiano; buffalo mozzarella is paired with tomato and basil. Main courses include a pork chop Milanese with greens and aged ricotta, braised lamb shank with saffron risotto, and branzino piccata with butter, capers, lemon and white wine. For pizza, the kitchen prepares elongated individual pies in a brick oven.

Via Trenta suits an Italian dinner where choosing independently matters as much as sharing. One person can concentrate on seafood pasta while another chooses meat, with an antipasto creating a common start. The restaurant publishes a three-percent surcharge on credit-card payments, a detail relevant to the final bill. Its stronger culinary reason for consideration is the range of clearly described pasta preparations: the diner can recognize what distinguishes each one before deciding what kind of dinner to build.

Sources: Via Trenta: restaurant, contact and hours · Via Trenta: menu and credit-card surcharge · Via Trenta Osteria & Wine Bar: Google Maps listing