Seafood Lasagna at Sage

When in Rome: The "Roman's open seafood lasagna" ($24) at Sage (2221 W. Alabama, 713-526-6242) is worthy of any Roman feast. The dish consists of large, thin squares of Chef Paolo Mascio's homemade pasta layered with a seafood mixture of shrimp, crab, scallops and fish filets cooked in a cream-based broth the color and consistency of a good gumbo. The pasta absorbs the rich flavors of the broth. Two clams and two mussels, in their shells, are placed around the plate. The dish looks like a normal lasagna, but because the pasta and seafood weren't cooked together but layered together later, Mascio calls it an "open lasagna."