“Same Bread. Nicer napkins,” they promise.

But the folks behind BREADTribeca are being a bit too modest.

For one thing, the grown-up version of the beloved NoLIta paninoteca Bread has a fancier decor (overhead fans that look like sails), more seating (room for 75 inside and 28 outside), and a menu that goes well beyond the sandwich press. Owner Luigi Comandatore and partner Bob Giraldi (Jean Georges, Mercer Kitchen) have enlisted chef Anthony Rose, formerly of Washington Park, and Genovese import Mirco Natali to make their neighborhood joint worth waiting for.

The open kitchen features marble counters and a custom-built oven that turns out pizzas, breads, and meats. Go for basics like seabass with rosemary and chicken with beet greens. But don’t deny yourself the Ligurian specialties: cappon magro, a dazzling vegetable-and-fish rainbow terrine; pastas like pansotti with walnut sauce and trenette with cockles and bottarga (dried tuna); as well as anything made with pesto, which, after Columbus, is quite possibly Genoa’s greatest export to this country.

A modest proposal? Not likely.

BREADTribeca, 301 Church Street, at Walker Street (212-334-8282).