Miami Beach certainly isn't desperate for another pricey Italian restaurant, but I Corsini , at the corner of Sixth and Washington, is a magical spot whose outdoor dining room is a local treasure worth supporting.

Owned by Robert Corsini with Sardinia Ristorante veteran Giuseppe (Beppe) Galazzi at the stoves, this sexy place (formerly the funky Baire's and Sport Cafe) puts some tasty regional Italian dishes (and a few sloppy ones) on the table. The place to be is the garden beneath towering palms studded with tiny white impatiens and gentle lights that make everyone look good.

Someone with a good eye laid out the handsome menu on thick, glossy stock and designed a moderately priced wine list with lots of bottles from all over the boot. The extensive food choices are clearly described in both English and Italian, a skill that does not extend to the well-meaning but deficient wait staff.

Though most of the offerings are alluring, many would be more appropriate for a ski lodge in the Apennines. Ribollita (thick bread soup), farro with beans, crepes stuffed with Gorgonzola and asparagus, and pappardelle sauced with hearty wild boar ragu are tough sells in a subtropical, al fresco dining room.

Instead, we sampled a fritto mista with tender octopus, shrimp, white fish and calamari that, though tasty and light enough in its gentle flour coating, had a slightly fishy flavor. A fantastic zuppa di pesce, however, stocked with octopus, eraser-sized clams, tender black mussels, scallops and white fish and served with a toasty plank of brittle crostini, is a delicious way to spend an evening beneath the stars.

A deconstructed beef tartare, with the component onion, egg, mustard et al., in tiny bowls disappointed the classicists at the table but seemed at least to make an effort at creativity.

Though a bit heavy, the handmade pastas are worth sampling. A hearty tortellini in a thick parmigiana sauce is served in a lacy basket of melted cheese that is as indulgent as the creamy dish. Also good is a silky tagliolini with briny sea urchin and a pumpkin-stuffed tortelloni in a brown butter sauce dotted with chopped pistachios.

Even the dry pastas are a cut above -- perfectly al dente, a little heavy on the sauce. The menu also offers a 100 percent rice pasta for the wheat-intolerant.

A rough-cut panzanella with red onion, cubes of day-old Tuscan bread and sweet, juicy hunks of tomato with lots of torn basil is perfection, but other salads we sampled missed the mark ever so slightly. A Tuscan one of fennel, celery heart and oranges and another of tuna with cranberry beans had brown-edged greens and too much dressing.

Meat dishes, including a $42 bone-in rib-eye seared to a chewy, angry black, did not impress, though a lovely if overly salty gratin of potatoes flecked with tomatoes is a luscious consolation prize.

Mixed grill with a juicy lamb chop, a strip of dried-out beef, hunks of white-meat chicken and puffy sausages alongside a stuffed tomato did not fare much better, though a tasty skirt steak for just $18 was simple and tasty enough to satisfy.

Enticing desserts -- panna cotta with a glowing red sauce of raspberry puree, lemon ricotta cheese souffle, spicy pepper chocolate mousse, wine-soaked zuppa inglese -- are pure Italian decadence. A simple but friendly construction of Nutella spread on yellow cake has the charm of a birthday cake for those who long for childhood.

Lunchtime sandwiches on toasty ciabatta bread served on a well-worn wooden plank make for a satisfying mid-day meal, though the place is particularly empty then.

I Corsini has yet to find an audience, and though promoters have swooped in with promises of models and freebies on Sunday and Monday nights, it remains a rough-cut gem in need of polishing.