Bocca restaurant is on the northeast corner of a quirky strip of salons and antique shops where cars whiz by on their way to or from Biscayne Boulevard. It is well worth stopping by for the simple, flavorful food and friendly charm.

Chef and co-owner Alain Pizzutti was born in Paris, but learned to cook from his Italian grandmother. After military service, he worked as a bartender in the south of France, and in 1991 moved to New York. He soon made enough money bartending to open his first restaurant, the Chelsea Clinton. It was named for its Chelsea district and Clinton neighborhood, not the president's daughter, but as you can imagine, the media came calling after Bill Clinton was inaugurated.

After a decade running restaurants in Pittsburgh and New York, Pizzutti came to Miami to visit a friend and chill. A year ago, he met his girlfriend and business partner, Kimberly Miller, a New England native who had dreamed of owning a restaurant since waiting tables at a Vermont diner as a teenager.

Miller followed her sister to Miami 15 years ago and found work as a legal assistant, but she always waited tables and bartended on the side, mostly in Italian places. The couple scouted locations, and ended up revamping what had been a Puerto Rican place. They named their restaurant Bocca, ``mouth'' in Italian.

Miller works the room while Pizzutti turns out a compact menu of dishes like tomato and garlic bruschetta drizzled in olive oil and shrimp in spicy fra diavolo (``brother devil'') sauce.

The fresh pasta, made by a friend, is cooked al dente and served with sauces including bolognese, robust with ground meat, a touch of wine, butter and tomato, and puttanesca (``in the style of the whore''), pungently satisfying with salty anchovies, black olives and capers.

Chitarra or ``guitar string spaghetti'' comes tossed in a rich carbonara with pancetta. Ravioli-like medaglioni are filled with ricotta and spinach in a creamy pink sauce. There's also grilled salmon or chicken and breaded, sautéed veal.

House-made tiramisu arrives with Miller's bright smile.

Linda Bladholm's latest book is Latin and Caribbean Grocery Stores Demystified.

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