The mayors of Providence and Boston can verbally duke it out about which of these fair cities has the best restaurants, but both have a competitor farther south. Here in the heart of the Knightsville section of Cranston, settled by immigrants from Itri, Italy, a modest cafe called l'osteria has regular customers who make the drive from Boston's North End. That's certainly testimony to the quality of the food and service.

For the past nine years, owner/chef John Notarianni has kept his dishes simple and top-notch. We loved the grilled pizza with spinach and mushrooms ($10.95) when l'osteria first opened, and we still love it, though the feta and Asiago cheeses have been replaced with dollops of Gorgonzola. Greens and cheese also dot two of the other pizzas: basil pesto and chicken with feta and rabe, and sausage with Asiago.

This time around, out for dinner with our friend Ginny, we all sampled l'osteria's calamari ($9.95), which was sauteed, not deep-fried in white wine, garlic, and butter. Very gentle tastes with now and again a slice of pepperoncini, the spark of which I savored, but which made Ginny swear off the squid rings after her first small helping. All the more for Bill and me.

On previous visits, Bill and I had enjoyed the gnocchi all sorentina, potato dumplings with fresh mozzarella, and pasta l'osteria, a grilled chicken breast in marinara sauce, topped with Mascarpone and served over penne. The latter is still a favorite with l'osteria regulars.

Ginny and I both leaned in the pasta direction, she for the pollo al pesto ($12.95) and I for the risotto al' pesce ($19.95). Her marinated grilled chicken in pesto sauce was tender and flavorful, though the pesto itself could have been sharper for me (in keeping with my predilection for pepperoncini). My risotto with scallops, shrimp, and chopped plum tomatoes was delectably cooked in clam juice, with what seemed like a pound of scallops and four large shrimp.

Bill, showing his carnivore streak to its greatest advantage, chose a special of the evening, the veal bracciola ($17.95), an Italian roulade, in which the meat was wrapped like tiny bedrolls around a mixture of Parmesan, prosciutto, and parsley, and served with delightfully creamy mashed bliss potatoes and nicely sauteed zucchini discs. The veal was fork-tender, redolent with the wine and spices in which it had simmered, and Bill was quickly re-elected to the Clean Plate Club. (There are three veal scaloppini dishes on the regular menu -- one with prosciutto, one with shrimp, and one with roasted peppers -- and judging by Bill's veal, they are most likely just as good.)

Desserts at l'osteria include several imported tortes -- lemon and Black Forest among them -- plus biscotti and homemade tiramisu. Alas, the latter is made primarily on the weekends, so we had to take our waitress's word for its superior quality. Theresa told us to call ahead next time and she'd make sure they had it for us.

L'osteria's cafe-like decor is carried out in the sheer plum-colored half-curtains on the windows, the brick-colored tiles on the floor, the butcher paper on the dozen tables. The light walls hold here and there a print of Itri, two Italian plates with fruit on them, and a historic picture of a Knightsville group. The short end of this intimate L-shaped room has a full bar, with seats at two separate countertops.

This is a popular spot for lunch as well as dinner, with a full range of pastas, including many variations not offered in the evening, a few entrees, several salads, and some intriguing sandwiches, such as sopressata with roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella; rabe with sausage; and potato and egg. There's also a chef's special polenta, cooked with sun-dried tomatoes and basil, and topped with different sauces (also available at dinner) or two enticing bruschettas, one with cannelini beans and sauteed Bermuda onions, the other with wild mushrooms and Asiago.

L'osteria (which means "a cozy little inn") has all the warmth and informality of a neighborhood family restaurant, with the careful kitchen of the most sophisticated upscale nightspot. Notarianni has created a hit -- several in fact -- by concentrating on good, fresh ingredients and letting them sing without an overproduced score. We're looking forward to tasting them all.

Issue Date: March 8 - 14, 2002