When the far-flung members of our dining party finally coalesced at Ilio DiPaolo’s Restaurant, we immediately started causing problems. What started as a table of four grew into a party of six. Then seven, as another wounded duck swooped for shelter amid a nest of friends.

That would have been enough to jam up the works at most places. At Ilio DiPaolo’s, I was blessed to witness an all-too-rare sight these days. Servers and managers teamed up to cheerfully get us to a more appropriate setting. Meaning a table with appropriate landing area for all the plates we would need to square all the hungers around this table.