We've always thought that many of the best Colorado Boulevard dining options aren't actually on Colorado Boulevard. This charming Italian restaurant and wine bar offers stirring evidence to bolster our case.

Patricia Jemai isn't afraid to pull people off the street and herd them to one of the tables handmade by her father, promising skeptics headed for Colorado Boulevard they'll be better off in her hands. She's right: We sampled a spicy broth-based broccoli soup and the chicken sandwich with lemon zest and dill on rosemary ciabatta, both of which are enticing enough to draw eager office-lunchers. (Well, that and Jemai's strong-arm tactics.) Dinner mixes pizzas and pastas with more unexpected selections like grilled lamb chops with dijon mustard and thyme sauce; lovers of cheese, olives and/or wine should make their preferences known to fully experience the passion behind the restaurant. The large, elegant dining room, which somehow retains a brightness despite all that heavy wood, is complemented by a lounge with a long bar and sturdy wine cabinet, as well as a charming patio out back. (Well, charming in the evening hours before the frat boys next door at McMurphy's devolve from drunk to disorderly. The patio is wisely cleaned out for the night before that occurs.) —Lonny Pugh