Rialto is one of the Boston area's favorite special-occasion restaurants. Every element is carefully thought out, from the architecture to chef Jody Adams's extraordinary food. It's a dramatic but comfortable room, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Harvard Square, cushy banquettes, and standing lamps that cast a golden glow. It attracts a chic crowd, but it's not such a scene that out-of-towners will feel left behind. I find the service a bit standoffish, but the legions of friends who wouldn't think of celebrating birthdays and anniversaries anywhere else heartily disagree.

The menu changes regularly. You might start with tuna crudo, with beets and blood orange, or a "Rialto classic" of Provençal fisherman's soup with rouille, Gruyère, and basil oil -- the very essence of seafood. Main courses are so good that you might as well close your eyes and point. Tuscan-style sirloin with portobella-and-arugula salad is wonderful, and any seafood dish is a guaranteed winner -- say, orange-dusted scallops with sunchokes and olives. The menu always includes at least one tempting vegetarian entree. For dessert, seasonal gelatos (in unusual flavors such as rosemary) often accompany elaborate yet rustic pastry creations like lemon pine-nut olive-oil cake.