Massimo Sola opened Sola Pasta Bar in SoHo in 2017 (rebranded as A Pasta Bar) — an open-kitchen room where pastas are finished at a central station in view of the dining room, the chef bringing pedigree from his Michelin-starred namesake restaurant in Varese, Italy. The format is à la carte rather than tasting-counter: linguine alle vongole, penne arrabbiata, chef specials, plus an accessibly-priced lunch and counter-or-table service option. The Michelin star is the chef's, not the venue's — A Pasta Bar reads as a competent SoHo Italian with chef-pedigree weight, not as a destination tasting counter peer to Rezdora or Massara. For accessible chef-driven Italian on West Broadway, with the Varese-Michelin pedigree as the chef-of-record signal rather than a venue credential.