Expect the best, pay for it, and you just might get it. At least, that seems to be Sopra proprietor David Manero's motto. He and a partner laid out a cool three mil for this renovated spot, then bought the building in which it's housed for $6.3 million more. We give him credit just for his balls -- that is, the roasted garlic meatballs that nestle, along with braised parsley sausage and Parmesan braciola, with trenette. Chef Glen Manfra also whips up superb entrées like oak-grilled Atlantic swordfish with cannelloni mash; salt-and-pepper jumbo shrimp sautéed on stone with Sicilian bread pudding; and a Bell & Evans chicken breast cacciatore. Open only half a year or so, Sopra currently attracts diners as much for the decorative eye-candy -- terrazzo steps, mosaic floors, a pool on the sidewalk -- as it does for the new-age fare. But guaranteed that if you go for the architecture, you'll stay, and return, for the expertly constructed dishes.