Aqua Santa: Best Luck
Aqua Santa

Mario La Manna, the owner just looks like trouble, with his red Ferrari and the guilty smile of a Catholic who just went to a lengthy ho-down of a confession--check out of the photograph of him as an altar-boy on your way to the bathrooms. The rustic Italian food here is consistently good, and both the food and wine are reasonably priced. But the indoor seating is almost never full, while the patio is bustling. It's just so charming. And that is just dumb luck.

La Manna has told me that he does the planting himself--and the flowers look like impulse buys--some geraniums, petunias, and coleus. The pots themselves are a mix--not of a charming Mediterranean kind, but a found-in-a-Brooklyn basement sort. But somehow it works. A giant grape vine weaves around the pergola creating a pleasant little enclave that has shade during the day and is a great place for brunch and at night it's very intimate and it's a good place to bring families with children--as the laid back owner and staff don't mind if they wander around a bit.