Casa Carini, Lillington

Old World recipes collide with New World ingredients at Casa Carini, whose chefs craft traditional Italian dishes with produce culled from North Carolina growers. Tomatoes fresh from the vine bring robust flavor to the house marinara and pizza sauces; one bite of pizza or handcrafted lasagna proves that the restaurant’s efforts to seek out local vegetables are well advised.

Aside from these and other Italian staples, the kitchen specializes in seafood dishes that range from clam-topped pasta to fried shrimp. An extensive selection of beers and wines proves a worthy match for the lengthy menu, and the dining room echoes during dinner hours with the pleasant ringing of just-clinked glasses. This soundtrack finds its visual complement in a series of wall murals that depict peaceful scenes of Italian fields and lions purring in the Roman Coliseum’s petting zoo.