I’ve been working in a new office in Anchorage, and I keep zoning out while driving and missing the turn on Fireweed Lane, and then I have to detour through parking lots to get back on track. Because of this, I keep driving by a faded pink building, surrounded by a leaning chainlink fence, that was once a destination for ’80s romance and plates of creamy pasta. Romano’s. It was an iconic Italian restaurant where the art featured grape vines and cherubs and fiascos of Chianti. My parents would disappear into it on date nights and emerge with a small Styrofoam box containing a half portion of clam linguini for me to eat later. In my mind’s eye, I can still see the candlelight reflected in its wine glasses and hear the bittersweet saxophone solo of Billy Joel’s “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.”

I asked Facebook about Romano’s and the post has going on 200 responses about favorite dishes. Tortellini in Alfredo. Stuffed mushrooms. Veal marsala.

Romano’s specialized in a kind of Italian- American restaurant cuisine that no one eats in Italy but that never goes out of style here. Tonight, there will be a wait at every restaurant in Anchorage that offers garlic bread, wine, and a menu that includes creamy seafood pastas, single-portions of lasagna served under rafts of bubbly cheese, and salads made of crisp iceberg lettuce, wedges of tomato, and a vinaigrette dressing made with dried oregano and wine vinegar.

But, maybe you’d like to have your ’80s romance at home? I offer you the main ingredient for many a Romano’s tribute pasta. Add shrimp, scallops, clams, smoked salmon (a little goes a long way), or top it with a sliced, breaded chicken cutlet. Turn the lights down and the Dean Martin up.

The key with this pretty simple recipe is to watch the heat. Keep it on the low side and pay attention; you don’t want butter or cream to separate. Also, don’t overcook the pasta, and it will not work with pre-grated cheese.