Arturo Boada has owned restaurants in Houston for decades. Excellent ones. And his namesake is no exception. Your approach to this finely tuned bit of Italy is through an unassuming strip center, yet once the doors open, you enter a cozy world of gaiety and fine cuisine. The charismatic Boada surveys his room from a portal in the kitchen and ends each evening walking the floor, greeting his guests. The menu offerings are classic; a refreshing tomato gazpacho paired well with Mama Sonia’s Ravioli, stuffed with chicken and porcini mushroom and bathed in a white wine cream sauce. Camarones Henesy en Hamaca (rough translation: cognac shrimp in a hammock) are shrimp served with hearts of palm in a ginger-soy sauce, resting on sweet plantains. And a simple, fresh snapper with garlic, capers, and jumbo lump crab made the night. Dessert? A wood-baked apple pastry topped with a generous dollop of house-made gelato.