Like a bad actor, Italian food is often pelted with tomatoes and ridiculed for its inability to feel. Eat up while empathizing with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of Italian fare and drinks at Sapori D'Ischia in Woodside.

Each day, Sapori D'Ischia transforms from a specialty food shop selling cheeses, cured meats, and oils into a classic Italian dining room filled with intimate cloth-topped tables and twinkling candles. The tiella di polpetti alla griglia—charred baby octopus sleeping soundly in a candlelit terracotta crock ($14)—is an appetizer oft-ordered by regulars, and the asparagi al forno con canestro di pecorio—oven-roasted asparagus nestled in a pecorino romano basket with a toasted pine-nut blanket ($11)—is frequently asked to do Gumby impressions. Watch and learn as Sapori's servers arrive at your table to prepare the fettucini al'Antonio, a heaping portion of al dente pasta stirred inside a wheel of imported parmigiano reggiano cheese and sprinkled with prosciutto di parma and organic white-truffle essence ($24). Or simply dig into the kitchen-prepped costole di maile—wild fennel-encrusted pork chops flanked by black guanciale lentils and whipped potatoes ($23).

Like its cuisine, Sapori D'Ischia's interior is rustic and romantic, decorated with lush red drapes and paintings of Cupid farming. On Thursdays, diners can enjoy live Italian opera, and on Fridays and Saturdays, an acoustic-guitar and percussion duo perform Brazilian music, jazz, pop, and rock requests.