Anthony Trobiano, owner, and Tiffany Notarnicola, restaurant manager, in Trobiano's main dining room (Newsday Photo/Bill Davis)

Trobiano's opens at the address that, most notably, used to be occupied by Navona. It's awash in neutrals now, with some polite artwork of the suburban school to ensure you know the cuisine is going to be Italian.

More important, the service is warm and attentive. And the overseers are secure enough not to be concerned if a young child breaks free from the table for an unscheduled race across the dining room.

She made it back for appetizers, which are generally predictable and usually good. The pan-fried Maryland crab cakes arrive meaty and mild, boosted by a puree of roasted red peppers and basil. And the baked littleneck clams oreganata are tender.

But an "eggplant tower" layered with mozzarella and peppers is undone by undercooking. Ricotta and mozzarella in carrozza materializes overdone. Mozzie mavens are better off with the basic combo of sliced mozzarella with tomatoes and olive oil.

A dependable pick is the shrimp cocktail, with fine poached shellfish perched on a martini glass. Likewise, the Caesar salad, which has some bite. The house salad is jump-started by goat cheese and dried cherries; the spinach number, via toasted almonds and a warm bacon vinaigrette. White bean soup, with an undercurrent of garlic and a swirl of basil oil, is commendable, too.

Trobiano's shows some flair with farfalle caponata, the bow-tie pasta sauced with a variation on the sweet-tart Sicilian eggplant relish that's heady with black olives and toasted pine nuts.

Fetuccine Alfredo, the Roman classic that has plunged into cliche with the ease of Anita Ekberg entering the Trevi fountain, gets a Parmesan-driven, creamy version tasty enough to spark a revival. Far more puritan capellini primavera does confirm it's winter, not spring, but there's sufficient garlic and olive oil to compensate in part for the dull vegetables.

Orecchiette, those little catcher's mitts, with broccoli rabe, sausage, garlic, olive oil and a shot of crushed red pepper provides the warmth the calendar requires. But the risotto with porcini doesn't quite come together. It's just mushrooms and rice.

Try pan-seared, snowy halibut crusted with black olives and set on a red-pepper coulis, for a fine entree. Pan-seared, sesame-spiked tuna, with a lemony accent, also is recommended.

You can safely skip the low-rise "Trobiano's Tower," an exercise on overorchestration built with grilled beef medallions, eggplant and fontina cheese, with a Madeira demi-glace. Try the marinated and grilled rib steak, on a hillock of broccoli rabe.

Cannoli are exceedingly sweet, and the apple-crumb finale routine. Stick with the Italian cheesecake. Your diet hasn't started yet, right?

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 1/1/06.