Melograno

Chef-owner Gianluca Demontis cooks with the confidence of someone born in Rome. (He was.) No reservations are taken at this plain-chic 32-seat BYOB, but Demontis's wife, Rosemarie Tran, is a diplomat with customers who are willing to wait. No wonder they get impatient: The aromas wafting from the open kitchen — tomato and sage to pair with poached sea bass — are entrancing.