In the middle of the gritty Fulton Street warehouse district you’ll find haute cuisine meets haute couture. Mannequins wearing ravishing avant-garde fashions adorn the windows of this Milanese restaurant. Milan-raised owner Bruno Abate acquires haute couture designed by local students to showcase and make available for purchase. Abate also owns Hype Model Management, which is the apparent source of his stunning waitstaff, making dining here as style conscious an event as a celebrity studded fashion show.

Tiny, iridescent celery green tiles are inlaid around the center bar, and similar royal blue tiles cover the back wall; opaque plastic chairs trimmed in glittery silver flank the tables. A large patch of Astroturf hangs on one wall like a painting. The menu’s ambitions live up to the “hauteur,” but not necessarily to the high-style affectations.

The mozzarella on the caprese salad is made in-house, fresh and creamy and drizzled with an aromatic herbed olive oil. The pizzas don’t have any designer elements, and they don’t need them; the margherita (mozzarella and basil), napoletana (anchovies and oregano) and quattro formaggi (four cheeses) all come on a deliciously thin, wood-oven baked crust. The rest of the menu changes daily, featuring an assortment of delicate handmade pastas like tagliatelle Bolognese, tagliolini with pesto and fragrant risottos. Entrees usually include scallopinialla lombarda, pounded thin veal in lemon sauce, and saltimbocca alla Romana, veal and prosciutto rolls.

The Tuscan-inspired seafood soup features a light tomato-based broth holding shrimp, clams, tuna and swordfish. Don’t pass on dessert: the ananas speziato, or spicy pineapple, is made from fresh, juicy slices of pineapple marinated in vanilla, white wine, anise and crushed red pepper, served with a scoop of coconut sorbet.

Centerstage Reviewer: Jean Kwon