By Adele Xavier — Photographed by Bobby DiMarzo, Matt Baldelli & James Ringrose

It might sound like the setup for a bad joke, but it’s a group that wouldn’t be out of place at Umbria Prime, Boston’s newest prime steakhouse. For many years, Frank DePasquale’s restaurant has been bringing the flavors of the “green heart of Italy” to the heart of Boston’s financial district. Umbria Prime has a new menu with a fresh focus, and it’s now a prime steakhouse with Italian flair, a restaurant where the menu has something for everyone.

Umbria Prime is located in a five-story historical residence on Franklin Street in the financial district. Behind the simple façade lies a warm, welcoming space, with interiors evocative of an Italian countryside villa. The tables are draped in snowy linens and set with gleaming tableware, but the dark furniture and exposed brick walls provide a rustic touch.

There’s a full-service bar that caters to a quiet pre-dinner drink, or a full round of cocktails with friends to kick off a night out. Arrive at dinner hour and the mood is lively, with lots of laughter. To watch the chefs at work, ask for a table near the open kitchen. For a quieter atmosphere – whether for serious business or romance – try the alcove tables and muted lighting on the second floor.

Umbria Prime’s new menu is the creation of executive chef Gianni Caruso, who also runs the show at Bricco in the North End. It’s clean and straightforward, with neat categories of starters, pastas, meats, seafood and sides. Though the menu emphasizes steak, it’s clear that Umbria Prime hasn’t lost touch with its Italian roots.

Starters run to the simple and effective: the salads, for example, are particularly appealing for warm weather. A bibb and raddichio salad is lightly dressed with balsamic vinegar, and served with goat cheese crostini. It’s colorful and refreshing, and the creamy cheese pairs nicely with the crisp lettuce. For an elegantly-executed take on a classic, try the insalata caprese, a tower of heirloom tomato discs layered with imported buffalo mozzarella, lightly drizzled with pesto and olive oil. It’s one dish that will get even better as tomato season really takes off.

For something a little more substantial, consider the seafood options. Alaskan king crab legs are plump and meaty, ready to be coaxed from the shell for dipping in herbed drawn butter. There’s also an Asian-influenced tuna tartare: cubes of rosy red fish bathed in a fragrant sesame-ginger dressing, tossed with microgreens for added texture and color. Even someone who isn’t usually a fan of fish might be tempted to try a bite.

Finally, for a sneak preview, or for those who just can’t wait to get to the steak, there’s the Kobe beef carpaccio. Paper-thin slices of tender beef are dressed with a tangle of arugula and shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and drizzled with truffle vinaigrette. The beef is so tender it almost melts, and its deep flavor is enhanced by the heady truffle vinaigrette, balanced out by the peppery bite of the arugula and the salt of the cheese.

Umbria Prime may have a fresh focus on corn-fed, dry-aged beef, but the menu still includes dishes featuring homemade fresh pasta. Tagliatelle with wild mushrooms comes in a lusciously creamy sauce with a generous heaping of porcini and other exotic funghi. Cherry tomatoes provide a burst of sweetness, and fresh truffle shavings add a rich pungency. With a dish like this, no one will say that the vegetarians are getting the short end of the stick. It might even make the die-hard carnivores reconsider their steak.

Seafood lovers will be drawn to the Maine lobster, which can be ordered three different ways, grilled, baked or stuffed. The presentation is dramatic, with the lobster served whole in a copper dish. The kitchen cracks the shell to give the diner a head start, but the seafood lover still gets the satisfaction of digging tender morsels of lobster from the legs and claws.

As would be expected of a prime steakhouse, Umbria Prime is serious about its meat. The beef comes from corn-fed cattle, and it’s dry-aged for twenty-one days before it gets to the table. During the dry-aging process, the meat loses excess moisture and the natural enzymes start to break down the connective fibers, resulting in steak that is particularly flavorful and tender.

There’s no question about where the beef is from: the menu clearly indicates the state and ranch for each cut. The single-cut filet mignon, for example, comes from Meyer Ranch in Montana. Cooked to medium rare, it’s so tender; it cuts with a table knife. For those with bigger appetites, there’s the sixteen-ounce Wagyu ribeye from Mishima Ranch in Texas. The meat is similarly tender, richly marbled, and almost buttery. Both are flavorful enough to consume as is, though the menu offers a selection of sauces for those who would like additional flavor.

Of course, no matter how good a steak tastes alone, it’s not a full meal without sides. Umbria Prime’s menu offers a variety of choices to complement the meat. Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and mozzarella are satisfyingly flavorful. Vidalia onions, roasted with a splash of balsamic, are intensely sweet and glorious. And the lobster mash is smooth and buttery, full of generous chunks of lobster.

Save room for pastry chef Nello Caccioppoli’s creations. Cheesecake is a mainstay of steakhouse dessert menus, but at Umbria Prime, it comes in the form of a cheesecake semifreddo with raspberries. Smooth and creamy, a little lighter than ice-cream, the semifreddo plays off the crunch of the crisp cookie base, and raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries provide an intensely bright, fruity counterpoint.

For a warm dessert, look no further than the “Cuore Caldo.” Translating literally as “warm heart,” it’s Umbria’s take on molten chocolate torte. Most entries in the genre are too heavy to sit comfortably on top of a full meal, but this interpretation neatly dodges that pitfall. A tender cake shell surrounds a flowing center that is full of chocolate flavor, but not absurdly rich. As a finishing touch, it comes with homemade pistachio gelato on the side.