On a stretch of L Street where downtown-DC dining veers from expense-account steakhouses to carryout salad bars, the Italian Spezie has always held sway. Windows that open onto the street, not-too-stiff prices, and good if not great food made it a go-to spot for lunch and postwork cocktails or dinner. But with the arrival this fall of chef Cesare Lanfranconi, who dazzled with his pastas and risottos at Ristorante Tosca, Spezie is morphing into a different kind of restaurant: one that aims to pull in a crowd because of the food.

Carpaccio, fried calamari, veal ravioli -- the selection at a lot of Italian restaurants is so similar that you hardly need to crack a menu to know what's for dinner. The trick, then, is to find those chefs who aim to make the commonplace special.

Spezie’s menu was quite varied, offering a number of appetizers, pastas, and fish and meat entrees. What quickly became clear as you sampled the dishes was Livia’s ability to use understatement to create dramatic effect. As he does with his physical space, so he does with his food.