Pasta.

You’ve come across it.

Usually in rustic spots with someone’s Great-Nonna Maria judging you from the wall.

If only Nonna Maria had something to take the edge off, she might have come up with this place...

It’s called Principessa, and it’s a slightly Euro-ish little alcove of Italian staples and cocktails in SoHo, opening Tuesday.

Dates. You’ve got ’em. They’re all great, and they all eat food. Anyway, you’ll want to casually slip in through the French doors of this white-walled boîte for date number three with any given companion and acquire one of the two-tops opposite the bar. Also: some linguine alle vongole, spaghetti pomodoro and a bottle of lambrusco.

But about that table.

On the off chance there’s nothing open right away, you’ll pull up to the bar and explore the fine art of the cocktail with one of the guys behind the drinks program at Freemans and Hotel Delmano. Once you’ve got a proper seat, everything you order will be kept on record via the magic of iPad. So the next time you’re in, and you’ve inexplicably forgotten the name of that montepulciano d’abruzzo you had, they’ll be waiting with a bottle of the stuff.

And once the weather returns to a state of... last-week-ness, those huge doors will fling open to the sun-soaked world of brunch and beyond.

Nothing like a good door-flinging.