Our tireless food critics and writers went into the tagliatelle trenches, emerging with a list of Greater Boston’s very best cozy trattorias and spectacular date spots.

Brasseries, cocktail bars, seafood restaurants: The acclaimed Boston restaurateur has done it all since opening the original Eastern Standard in 2005. But until now, Harker hasn’t done Italian.

FOOD Why does Boston love Italian restaurants so much? And why do new ones keep opening in a city filled with pasta and pizza?