Don’t fill up on the bread. This old restaurant adage is usually still a good one. Who really needs more carbs? But the complimentary focaccia at Beachwood’s Rosso Italia will keep whispering seductively from its basket and in this case, you must give in.

Fresh from the oven, the flat bread has a tender, delicate crumb and a crisp crackle to the rosemary-strewn crust. It’s served with a fat bulb of sweet, roasted garlic, briny olive tapenade and an olive oil-balsamic vinegar dip. Pile all three onto the bread at once and savor the moment, because things can get a little bumpy from here.