Local lovers of Italian food may already know that perennial olasz great Fausto's moved to a new location late last year, and left behind a "second-label" restaurant in its old location on District VII's smoky Dohány utca. We suspect that the "new old" Fausto's in neighboring District VI is as good as ever. But we're not sure, because we have a hard time moving on from the "old new" Fausto's, better known as Osteria Fausto's.

Like the location of Fausto's Sr., over time the word osteria has changed. It used to mean "tavern" or otherwise a place serving very modest fare, and lots of wine. Now it is mostly used to indicate that a place isn't excessively expensive or formal, which Fausto's Jr. isn't. The "old new" Fausto's is both classy enough for a proper business lunch or romantic dinner, and laid back enough for most anything else.

And the food is far better than what you might get at a lowly tavern. On two visits we tried a variety of dishes, and enjoyed them all. Above are three of the best starters in Budapest; a mouth-watering sauté of calamari, artichokes and olives (Ft 2,000); grilled latteria cheese with crunchy polenta (Ft 1,900); and marinated salmon with apple and potato (Ft 2,200).

Lasagna with cabbage was the only main course available when we stopped in for a very late lunch today, as the restaurant has a truncated late afternoon menu that runs from 15:00-18:00. But we aren't complaining. We might complain, however, that they haven't made the above steak and lentil sauce special we had a few weeks back part of the regular menu. But there are enough other interesting mains that we won't complain too much.

Finally, all the desserts we checked out - including this "cappuccino cake" - were delicious, and, like everything else on the menu and wine card, fairly priced. So all in all, we like the old new Fausto's almost as much as the old old Fausto's, and more than ever want to go check out the new old one.