601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (202) 638-2423 Hours of Operation and Prices Lunch: M-F 11:30-2:30; Entrees: $10-$23 Light fare: 2:30-5 Dinner: M-Th 5:30-10:30, F-Sat 5:30-11, Sun 5:30-9:30; Entrees: $12-$26 Closed July 1-Sept. 15 annually Other Information • All major credit cards • Reservations recommended • Dress: casual • Complimentary valet parking at dinner • Nearest Metro: Archives-Navy Memorial • Handicapped accessible

Ricchi's influence is apparent immediately when the bread basket arrives. Two kinds of focaccia tempt you to overindulge. And the menu offers a bewilderment of seasonal appetizers, pastas, fish and meat. Summertime's salad of red and yellow tomatoes with soft, fresh mozzarella is a classic. That and the sausage and polenta or shrimp with white beans, maybe fried calamari and zucchini or carpaccio with arugula and parmesan, would make a meal.

But there are the pastas to consider. For cool weather, there are substantial versions, with duck or game. In a lighter vein are capellini with fresh tomato or fettuccine with seafood. Green tortellini are stuffed with grainy ricotta; and cavatelli, thick as rope, might come with raw tomato, broccoli rabe and an undertone of anchovy. These are straightforward, gutsy pastas. And you can follow them with something more grand - perhaps grilled rabbit, lamb chops with artichokes and thyme juice, Angus beef or, of course, veal. Ricchi has brought his signature fish preparation: lightly crumbed and herbed, crisped and browned on the grill, so that the juices are sealed in but the delicate flavor is not upstaged. Bice retains the inevitable flaws of a multi-city chain restaurant, but it is one of the few glamorous dining spots near Judiciary Square. And it makes an espresso that could pass muster in Rome.