Michaelangelo's restaurant in Little Italy turns 12 years old in May, which is as good excuse as any to re-visit this chapel of Northern Italian cuisine with its French, Swiss and Austrian influences. You know the hallmarks: Rich meats, pastas and soups made with polished techniques that retain faithful, rustic flavors.

I haven't been in five years. Shame on me. Once I stepped back in, though, all the pleasures made themselves known again. Showing some quirks of Little Italy, Michaelangelo's sits tucked away off busy Murray Hill Road next to a rare, sizable parking lot, and upstairs from the Montenero Duomo Citizens Club, an Italian heritage group that owns the building. Local chef Michael Annandono, who has been there since the place opened, studied cooking in Northern Italy for three years.