EVERY MORNING, as the sun arrives, so do they: a handful of employees, taking their spots at two maple benches custom-made by John Boos & Co., the Illinois company revered for its cutting boards. They will stay for around 10 hours, producing whichever pasta the kitchen requests: corzetti, stamped like Roman coins; or cappelletti — little hats — stuffed with mascarpone and spinach.

Near one of the 10-foot tables stands a steel extruder; when fitted with various brass dies, it creates the dried shapes (bucatini, rigatoni) that some restaurants purchase by the box. The front table is reserved for fresh pasta: agnolotti, gnocchi and others that involve hand turning. By the time the restaurant’s first guests arrive, dozens of noodles will be drying in the maple-framed racks on the wall, next to a refrigerator where the fresh ones rest.