The Italian ristoranti makes its US debut

After conquering Spain and France (but not Italy... they have enough Italian food there, apparently) with over 130 locations, La Tagliatella's first US spot landed in Midtown. It'll serve you authentic pizza, pasta, and more in what looks like a swank Italian villa with a giant wall of clocks set to times around the world, presumably to ensure it's always five o'clock, unless it's one of those times when it's five o'clock in the middle of the ocean or whatever. Chandeliers, leather, and white tablecloths. Not exactly Olive Garden. Or even Bertucci's! The whole place is clad in hand-carved wood ceiling tiles flown in straight from Bertucci's Italy.This Insalata Torre di Pisa is stacked with slices of sautéed eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes & buffalo mozzarella, and really, really short tourists will take hilarious pictures next to it pretending to hold it up.Flatbread w/ provoletta cheese, duck ham, arugula & shaved Parm will warm you up for the Spiedino Napoletano, a skewered pork tenderloin with sole di Puglia tomatoes & fried gnocchi.Between noodles (ravioli, fusilli rossi), sauces (cream, garlic), toppings (Iberian pork!), there are more than 400 pasta permutations. Permutations is a cool word.The open pizza kitchen makes their dough fresh daily for 20 unique Napoletano-style pies like this one with pesto, onion, mushrooms, Taleggio cheese, spinach, and bacon. That should ready your gut for 50 wines and Italian-inspired cocktails like the Ambrato with Old Overholt Rye, Dolin Rouge, peach puree, peach bitters & lemon, which are perfect to drink at any time, considering it's always five o'clock somewhere in this restaurant.Photos by Heidi Geldhauser courtesy of The Reynolds Group