Vic & Angelo's A Palm Beach Italian joint heads south

It can be tough to replace a big star, whether you’re Kirstie Alley replacing Shelley Long on Cheers, or anybody whose job it is to replace Kirstie Alley’s giant star-shaped Carvel cake she somehow manages to finish in, like, three minutes every time. Confident they'll be alright without the littlest big star around: Vic & Angelo's, now open on Ocean Drive.

For Vic & Angelo’s, local food maven David Manero redid the former DeVito's (which he teamed up with Danny for) to fill you with Italian fare in a class-heavy space with exposed brick galore, made less exposed by ornate mirrors, huge white leather captain’s chairs, plus an outdoor area lined with private cabanas and a fire pit, which nobody can ever do when the time comes, because dude is just toooo handsome. Get to work on the massive menu with antipasti like a whipped ricotta-/ peppers-/ basil-packed 11oz Kobe "Old School Meatball" (which in a twist does not refer to making hilarious “earmuffs” jokes when children are around), before diving into pasta plates including a truffle-cream-slathered four-cheese pear tortelloni and Nona's Sunday gravy macaroni topped with pork, sausage, San Marzanos, and the aforementioned giant meatball. Meanwhile, mains range from jumbo shrimp and Maine lobster, to rosemary-rubbed dry-aged steaks, plus coal-oven pizzas made with NYC-imported water including the Goat Cheese w/ pistachios and truffle honey, and the pepperoni/ mozz/ San Marzano “Mott Street” -- not to be confused with 21 Mott Street, a show on which Johnny Depp goes undercover to bust kids smoking weed out of apples.

Boozewise, they're rolling seriously deep in vino, with 100+ bottles ranging from traditional Tuscan Chianti Classicos and Pinot Grigios to Champagnes and dessert wines, which’s what the staff calls Kirstie’s wails before they get her that 16th cake.