GNOCCO CAFFE

337 E. 10TH ST. (BETWEEN AVENUES A AND B) (212) 677-1913

THEY’RE loco for Gnocco. Barely two months old, this East Village hideaway keeps a nightly herd happily grazing from antipasti through dolci at prices even struggling artists can afford.

Husband and wife owners Pierluigi Palazzo and Rossella Tedesco imported young chefs from Modena, Italy, then tagged their scrumptious handiwork at $16 (for filet mignon) and under. Their friend Nicola Altomare, who worked on Federico Fellini’s sets, painted the walls with exuberant flowers. What’s not to like?

Certainly the namesake item provides a great start. The basket full of crisp gnocco – large rectangles of bubbly fried dough my dining partner likens to “big Chinese noodles” – are accompanied by buttery slices of air-cured meats and little curls of prosciutto ($8.50).

Early on, though, the service gets glitched. When our entrees arrive, they look and smell wonderful. The thing is, we haven’t seen our appetizers yet. So back to the kitchen the main course goes.

Salads, when they appear, are super-fresh and delicious. Arugula has just enough peppery bite to accent sugary cherry tomatoes and cubes of crisp-fried pancetta glazed in balsamic vinegar ($8.50). As for raw artichoke slivers with lemon dressing and Parmesan ($11), it’s “like my grandmother would serve,” declares my guest of Italian heritage.

Tubes of maccheroncini ($9) are cooked to perfection, cloaked in creamy sauce with fresh greens and a few specks of speck. The pasta could use a tad more of that ham. While it’s texturally pleasing, it doesn’t have as much flavor as we’d expect. Ditto tender slices of chicken breast with saffron and thyme on a potato and zucchini puree ($9).

But thin-sliced pork tenderloin in a tangy, aged balsamic vinegar emulsion ($9.50) has no trouble asserting itself from beneath a mountain of Parmesan shavings. Every forkful is a treat.

We would have liked savory tagliatelle with free-range (i.e. formerly free-range) rabbit and asparagus ($9.50) to be hotter than lukewarm. Under nests of shredded potato, three little lamb chops ($12.50) were delicious, too, if slightly overcooked. Given the prices, these are quibbles.

You don’t want to pass on dessert here. Zabaglione with chocolate pudding and vanilla-filled ladyfingers is at once ethereal and luscious. Try anything though, you can’t go wrong.

It’s cash only at Gnocco Caffe. Also, the pace is very relaxed. In fact, at times it seems as though the food could be from Venice but the service is from Venus. Just remember, that’s the planet of love.