Bites: More pasta and pizza, please

Where to find the real thing outside the capital

Carluccio's

St Albans is the latest place to be blessed with a branch of the mushrooming chain of stylish cafés and delis from jolly telly chef and mycologist Antonio Carluccio and wife Priscilla. Carluccio's captures La Dolce Vita on a budget, and serves a terrific selection of delicious Italian starch: arancini (Sicilian rice balls), pasta and lovely breads. The mushroom soup's as good as you'd expect. Simple grills with vegetables and great coffee make it an asset at any time of day.

7-8 Christopher Place, St Albans, Hertfordshire (01727 837681)

Casa Mia Grande

Bigger brother of the original Casa Mia café, open for dinner and Sunday lunch only. The speciality is fish, so fresh they dare display them in a refrigerated cabinet. The owner's from Ischia, the island off Naples, and imports wine from there, and the kind of bustling atmosphere you can't bottle. Their tagliatelle with langoustine and mango in a tarragon cream sauce won a competition run by pasta maker Barilla.

Harrogate Road, Chapel Allerton, Leeds (0113 2392555)

Leonardo

Lively venue in Hove run by outgoing Sicilian Ancleto Capetta. The space is long and narrow, the menu's massive but doesn't seem to overstretch the kitchen. Pasta's made there, for use in agnolotti ripieni di vitello, pappardelle with chicken, spinach and pine nuts, and tortellini with cream, Parma ham and peas. Pizzas are thin and crisp and start at £4.95. Simply cooked fish includes seabass, and Dover sole with lemon and caper sauce.

55 Church Street, Hove, East Sussex (01273 328888)

Popolo

New addition to the Di Giorgi family's mini-empire of Italian bars and restaurants in Newcastle. Taking over from the old Don Vito's pizzeria underneath their Paradiso restaurant, this bar, lounge and kitchen – three buzzwords – aims for New York sophistication, with sleek chrome and comfy leather sofas. Italian and southern Mediterranean versions of tapas include arancini, roast pork with peppers and fennel and home-made pasta stuffed with Parma ham and sage cream. These come in threes for £4.95.

82 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle (0191 2328923)