When the Food Network comes calling.

MISS WILLIAMSBURG

WHEN MASSIMILIANO (Max) Bartoli was approached by the Food Network about preparing his signature lasagna on the program Tyler's Ultimate, the practiced chef of both Brooklyn and Manhattan Miss Williamsburg eateries got an idea. "We cannot have just a tv show. There must be something out there, an opportunity."

In the three months before the episode aired, Bartoli and his partner Pilar Rigon, 36, decided to make the most of the blip of exposure. "One restaurant can generate a lot [and] two restaurants can generate even more," Bartoli observes, "but to have a product that can sell in the whole U.S. obviously generates even more."

In an unlikely coup against time, Bartoli and Rigon developed a frozen, shippable version of their Emilia Romagna lasagna and a website from which to sell it—miss-williamsburg.com—while also building their newest restaurant, which opened just a few weeks ago.

Named for its region of origin, Emilia Romagna lasagna is more refined than the Neopolitan red-sauce version that Americans are accustomed to eating. Rather than layering mozzarella, ricotta cheese, meat sauce and pasta, Emilia Romagna lasagna calls for béchamel sauce (a smooth white sauce whose main ingredients are milk, butter and flour), beef ragout and pasta. "Historically, it's a very rich dish," says Bartoli. "Everyone didn't have the chance to eat lasagna."

But Bartoli, who himself comes from Bologna, aims to change that. When Tyler's Ultimate first aired the lasagna segment in late March, more than a hundred orders were placed minutes after the show ended. On the web, $35 gets you four one-pound servings of lasagna; a single plate at the restaurant costs $12. Both restaurant and frozen versions use homemade pasta and organic ingredients. "If you go by the taste, it serves one person," Bartoli says of his generous portions. "If you go by the diet, it serves two."

A runner places a square of freshly baked lasagna on our table. As if the profusion of béchamel weren't enough, the pasta is finished off with a reduced cream sauce that the home cook can replicate using the instructions on the package. "You're looking at six layers of homemade pasta," says Bartoli of the daunting stack, "And each one carries béchamel sauce and meat sauce in equal amounts." The dish is quite delicious and, surprisingly, not overwhelmingly heavy.

This isn't the last that you'll see of Miss Williamsburg's frozen line—they hope to expand to include other pastas—nor is this Bartoli's final television appearance. The chef is one of four finalists to replace Rocco DiSpirito in the new season of the reality dining series, The Restaurant.

"I have to say," remarks Bartoli, "we've been kissed by luck."

Miss Williamsburg Portavia, 228 E. 10th St. (betw. 1st & 2nd Aves.), 212-228-5355;

Miss Williamsburg Restaurant, 206 Kent Ave. (betw. Metropolitan Ave. & N. 3rd St.), 718-963-0802.