Rafaella on Ninth, New York City

Beneath a simple black awning, gauzy tapestries hang in the windows at Rafaella Cafe, framing the restaurant’s gold-leafed name on the two front windowpanes and evoking a European sidewalk café. Inside, chefs prepare Italian, American, Mediterranean, and other world cuisines, such as turkey club sandwiches, vegan ravioli, and crepes folded around Moroccan-spiced chicken. Drinks, such as old-fashioned sodas, cucumber-mint juice, shakes, and cappuccinos complement the range of entrees. Rafaella’s servers lay each meal out on petite marble tabletops surrounded by an eclectic collection of seating, from ornate Victorian styles to midcentury chairs favored by high-school history teachers.