Pasta and soft-shell crabs by the sea

Luke Palladino's universe has drifted inland over the last couple of years, with an Italian chophouse on East Passyunk and multiple concepts at the Valley Forge Casino diverting his attention. But because he is closing the steak house and reconceiving it for fall, this is an opportune time to remember his roots at the Shore.

In fact, the chic black BYOB called Luke Palladino's Seasonal Italian Cooking in Linwood remains one of the best bets for fine Italian cooking by the beach. From the giant raviolo stuffed with creamy burrata in raw tomato sauce to a moist whole fish in a zesty aquapazza (an aromatic broth), we were quickly reminded of that.

My favorite, though, was a seasonal soft-shell crab pasta that Palladino revives each year. Based on a dish he cooked in Venice, Palladino simmers his soft-shells cut up into chunks - rather than the more common crispy approach - and the effect is a crab-forward but lighter riff on the South Philly tradition with hard-shells ("A lazy man's spaghetti and crabs," he says). Hardly.

Palladino sautees the crabs in garlic and house-fermented Calabrian chili paste for a hint of heat, then splashes them with a cioppino stew of white wine, shellfish stock, and tiny heirloom tomatoes. With an aromatic lift of fresh-torn basil and Ligurian olive oil, the whole thing is tossed with toothy house bucatini into a bowl for a dish that's at once rustic and deep with carefully steeped flavors.

- Craig LaBan
Soft-shell crab bucatini, $32, Luke Palladino Seasonal Italian Cooking, 199 New Rd., Linwood, N.J. 08221; lukepalladino.com.