Not too many emaciated, hand-wringing, negative-equitied Northern-Rocked souls among the Friday night crowds here, I'd say.

Check the convertible Bentley round the corner, the property developer on the next table and the posh totty in high-rise heels and designer gear at the bar.

Consider, too, the other food and drink outlets tucked into this set of apartments in Leeds city centre, among them Lazy Lounge. Even the Co-op, gentrified as a "City Store" to avoid offence to the penthouse populace, has Champagne on display. If, as some economists say, our present plight is like Rome before the fall, it must have been quite a party, and Primo, consciously or not, symbolises the contradictions and drama of our economic age.

Conceived presumably when the apartment builders of Leeds were still selling tall storeys, it is tucked into a ground floor corner of one of the largest blocks in the city. Among its offerings is "Champagne English breakfast from Yorkshire Dales" which brings sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, fried egg, black pudding and toast served with a Bellini cocktail. Ker-ching, £10.95.

Ten years ago, this was an ugly monolith that housed the Royal Mail. Now it's an ugly monolith called West Point that houses people in 353 apartments in what is described as the "West End" of Leeds.

Thanks to marketing types, every town from here to Hastings has a "West End" stuffed with flats and bars. Not too many are building East Ends, though. Well, not yet.

That said, there seem to be plenty of people around and a fair number are in Primo: "The most authentic Italian in town." Of course, just like all of them.

I've been to plenty of Italians in Italy and not too many boast as unique selling points free wi-fi and "innovative fresh pasta". Yet, here is the archetypal restaurant built for flat-dwellers. It's handsome in a very Italian way; the sort of way that looks twice at itself in the mirror. Even the sumptuous toilets are elevated to a smart mezzanine.

Restaurant seats are of suede, tables are of granite, floors are of tile and one of the walls is covered in what look to be 1970s brown leather button-back bedheads while others are dressed in a funky take on grandma's wallpaper. The bar, a seductive space, glows in retro red.

It's an engaging space to sit and eat, not least because its vast windows afford such excellent views of other people sitting and eating in the vast windows of the Novotel restaurant across the way.

So at what point is this authentic, innovative food going to grab us by the throat and prove that Primo is not secondo? Not at the antipasti stage, that's for sure. You might imagine that a crostini of salmon and goats' cheese would have two pieces of grilled, oiled bread, one containing goats' cheese and the other salmon. The salmon, however, is draped over lumps of goats' cheese in one of the clumsiest dishes I've seen for some time. Fish and cheese are not inevitably alien and there's a vague kinship in goatiness and smokiness,
yet this is a shadow of the bruschetta up the road at Brio.

Deep-fried calamari shows care in the frying but not much more. This is like a dish waiting for something else to happen to it. On the other hand, the kitchen seems to adopt a surer accent with the main courses, and a friend who went a couple of days after my visit was impressed by the quality, creative and technical, of a risotto.

Orecchiette pugliesi brings pasta with broccoli, cherry tomatoes and anchovies. It's handsome value at £6, the broccoli left with some bite and the anchovies adding a bracing ping to a fresh construction.

Similarly, there's promise in medaglioni di maiale al formaggio in which large pieces of pork fillet are sauced with gorgonzola, parmesan and sage.

In matters of flavour, this is more like it: The pork is tender; the sauce robust, balanced and interesting. Presentation, however, needs further thought. Designer plates are rarely a substitute for intelligent design on a plate.

The menu does not stint on variety so among the antipasti are smoked breast of duck with port dressing and pink grapefruit; beef carpaccio with rocket leaves and pine kernels; prawn cocktail with sweet red pepper sauce and salad; and mussels in tomato sauce with oregano. Pasta dishes include egg garganelli with Italian sausage, egg yolk, cream and parmesan, and ravioli filled with lobster. Among the pizzas is Primo which offers tomato, smoked salmon, asparagus and crème fraîche, "sparkled with fresh dill". Main courses, meanwhile, go from the robust – veal cutlet in bread crumbs topped with parma ham and parmesan shavings – to the robuster – chicken with rosemary and potato wedges. Side dishes of sauté spinach and sauté potatoes are each £3 extra but the quality is good. At the pudding stage the choice includes the largest tiramisu in Leeds; good fun, good flavours but very sweet, characteristics also of the home-made strawberry and raspberry ice cream with mixed berry compôte.

The wine list, agreeably cosmopolitan, offers several by the glass – and it's encouraging to see such elegant glassware. Service comes with a free language lesson. Waiter: "What would you like? Punter: "The medaglioni di maiale, please."

Waiter, elasticating every vowel: "Ah, yes, the medaileeoney dee mayhayle halle formagzhioo…"

So, lively spot, cool design, hospitable staff, lively crowd, fair prices. Now, for the rest of us, what's the Italian for recession?

Primo Ristorante Café Bar
West Point, 29 Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4JY. 0113 244 8443.
primo@primo-ristorante.co.uk
Open Monday-Thursday, 8am - 10.30pm, Friday 8am – 11pm, Saturday, noon -11.30pm. Street parking.