Few restaurants are worth traveling across town to visit, but one has a bunch of regular customers willing do just that: Da Cicco at Profsoyuznaya. Previously there was an affiliated eatery right in the center, on Kamergersky Pereulok, but its rebranding forced fans to head south for Da Cicco’s exceptionally wide choice of pizzas. Despite its out of the way location, this cute little Italian restaurant is always packed, especially on weekends when it has to turn people away. And that’s understandable: it offers great food and a relaxed, democratic atmosphere that makes it feel like good value even though it’s not actually all that inexpensive. Last year, the Italian-led management opened Da Cicco Club at an even more remote location in the Nakhimovsky Prospekt metro station area, apparently brimming with self-confidence in its ability to lure gourmets to the outskirts. Having traveled all the way out there in a taxi and trekked through bleak courtyards searching for it - only to be told it was booked out for a banquet - we cursed the place and vowed to never return Now, the good news is that the creators of Da Cicco have opened another restaurant, this time in a much more central location near the Prospekt Mira metro station. Calling itself a restaurant-pizzeria-confectionary, Da Cicco Osteria gets you thinking about dessert even before you sit down, with its mouth-watering display of luscious cakes, pastries, biscuits and assorted sweets in a glass cabinet right in the entranceway. The menu puts less emphasis on pasta and pizza than at Profsoyuznaya, and combined with the comparatively posh interior, the overall effect is more formal. The selection includes four soups (170-390 rubles), nine salads (180-390 rubles), 12 starters (270-490 rubles), three types of risotto (275-390 rubles), 11 pasta dishes (190-430 rubles), 25 pizzas (150-425 rubles), four calzone choices (295-325 rubles), nine meat main courses (450-590 rubles) and 10 fish mains (280-670 rubles). The smooth, creamy soup of porcini and champignons (220 rubles) is a perfect starter, especially with the delicious selection of complimentary, freshly baked white and brown bread rolls. Also at a level of scrumptiousness that defies its simplicity, the spaghetti with garlic and hot peppers (190 rubles) is great value for the price. From the more expensive "domashnyaya pasta" menu, the spinach and ricotta ravioli (290 rubles) is delicious, beautifully presented and quite filling despite its diminutive size. Da Cicco’s Rimskaya pizza (275 rubles), with mozzarella, anchovies, olives, capers and oregano, is arguably the best in town - thin crusted, not too cheesy and never greasy. But it’s worth saving room for dessert. While we cannot vouch for the veracity of Da Cicco’s claim that its special homemade desserts are low in calories, they are indeed tasty. The ice creams and sorbets are irresistible, the nutty biscotti melt in the mouth, and the tiramisu looks good enough to warrant a return visit. Da Cicco even does a good job of the classic non-Italian apple strudel with ice cream (185 rubles). Drink prices aren’t bad for a restaurant of this caliber, with dry red house wine costing 275 rubles for a half-liter carafe. There’s also a children’s menu, pizzas to go and a deli shop on site. Go-magazine