Juniper looks like it was plucked off the Pinterest board of a James Bond villain, with a sleek, modern interior, very little color, and a wall of spirits accessible only by ladder. It doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional upscale Italian restaurant, where red or white tablecloths and extravagant chandeliers are commonplace. Still, a meal at Juniper feels oddly homey. It’s a place where you can dress up a little, sip great Italian wines, and enjoy some of the best pasta in town. Even if the open kitchen resembles every fine dining restaurant that popped up in the mid-2010s, the menu at this East Austin spot never feels played out. The puffy potato might sound like a nickname you went by as a toddler who lived off french fries, but it makes for a wonderful starter that answers the question of what the love child of a tater tot and mashed potatoes would taste like. If you’re feeling fancy, you can even dress it up with caviar. And a small selection of refreshing salads ensures you can start any meal off exactly as heavy or light as you’d like. Unless you speak fluent pasta, there’s a chance you’ll be frantically googling what paccheri is (or whatever appears on the menu on any given day), but any noodle shape you end up with will be dressed in a sauce so wonderful you’ll wish you were right in there with it. But until pasta baths become a thing, we’ll have to make do with velvet chairs and wooden tables as a backdrop for some of our favorite pasta in Austin. There are two ways to experience Juniper—a tasting menu and à la carte. As much as we typically love a parade of small plates made just for us, the tasting menu overlooks Juniper’s biggest strength by serving almost no pasta. Instead, you’ll look longingly as plates of cacio e pepe, rigatoni alla vodka, and tagliatelle make their way to nearby tables while you’re working through your seared fish. Juniper isn’t one of those places you typically need to book out far in advance, but it’s just swanky enough for a special meal. Come here when you need a nice spot for a short-notice date night or to formulate an intricate plan to take down a rival secret agent. We’ll be at the bar enjoying our pasta.