Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? Keep in mind that this wolf happens to be Lupa, "wolf" in Italian, and the name of Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's casually fabulous restaurant. And really, dear eaters, what's to fear? Certainly not the threat of what The New York Times' Eric Asimov has called "intensely delicious Roman trattoria food" And could "potatoless gnocchi kneaded with ricotta into puffy knuckles that punch through a stout sauce of ground fennel sausage," a favorite dish of Robert Sietsema of the Village Voice, along with "a fettucine Alfredo profound in its buttery and cheesy simplicity" cause a Beardie even a single moment's anxiety? Only when it comes time to decide what to order. Fortunately, there'll be no ordering to do when Lupa visits the Beard House this month; chef Mark Ladner will not only make the meal, he'll also make all the tough decisions.

Ladner, who received his culinary training at Johnson & Wales, first set his sights on Italy when he took a job at Todd English's acclaimed Olives in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He later moved to New York and worked with Scott Bryan at Alison on Dominick Street, following Bryan to open the critically praised Luma and Indigo. After spending a short time in the kitchen at Jean Georges, Ladner was recruited to be sous-chef at Babbo. When Batali and Bastianich opened Lupa less than two years ago, they asked Ladner to run the kitchen.

Today, Lupa is packed nightly with satisfied foodies howling for more of his earthy, inventive Roman fare. He treats every dish that leaves his kitchen, from pasta to prosciutto di Parma, with meticulous care, producing simple, delicious food that Cynthia Kilian described in the New York Post as "soul-cuddling....It's the kind of food and wine you wake up thinking about the next morning." This year, New York magazine named the place to its Best of New York issue, and John Mariani wrote in Esquire, "Lupa responds to all those Italianophiles who question why Italian food in America rarely tastes like the food in Italy by proving it most definitely can."

So who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not us.