Snaking back roads through Fife into Puyallup, my landlady noted the changes. Industry and warehouses have replaced farmland. Family dining thrives where philandering lovers once secretly supped. And what’s this new place, Toscano’s? It looks like an urbane restaurant got lost in the budding ’burbs.

That’s progress, and from where I eat, that’s a good thing.

The 4-month-old Toscano’s Café & Wine Bar marks Tom Pantley’s return to Puyallup. Formerly chef/owner of Balsano’s, Pantley has teamed with developers Doug Walker and Jerry Mahan to create an intimate, 90-seat restaurant with contemporary style and rustic elegance – in an office park that houses real estate lenders and title companies, no less.

Given Toscano’s upscale décor – black and ruby hues, cherry wood back bar – dinner prices are remarkably reasonable, with pasta entrees under $13, chicken and seafood dishes under $19, and steaks, depending cut and size, $16.95 to $29.95.

Pantley’s menu combines his family’s Sicilian-rooted recipes with Northwest ingredients. His straight-forward cooking style favors honest flavors and simple ingredients that even on the most dreary winter’s day become vibrant feasts.

Dungeness crab ravioli with herbed champagne cream sauce is such a dish. A current special ($17.95), it would earn raves for the crab-and-cheese pillows alone – sweet crustacean flesh toyed with creamy ricotta, gooey mozzarella and sharp Parmesean. The ravioli were nicely al dente around their double-thick pasta edges and melt-away tender where the filling bulged. Basil and oregano, chopped into the finest of confetti, punched the light cream sauce. Three simple ingredients – celery, carrots and onion, cooking’s holy trinity – made the dish pop with earthy flavors, textures and visual appeal. Simplicity could not be any more grand.

A classic dish like chicken Marsala ($16.95) showcased Pantley’s touch at the stove.

The dish had deep wine flavor and no bitter alcohol bite. Sautéed mushrooms had a lot of life in them, and a sprinkling of fresh parsley added clean crunch.

Martini clams ($14.95) had the cleanest shellfish flavor short of anything dug fresh from the beach. Steamed in dry vermouth with celery, onion, parsley, garlic and a touch of gin, clams and their sweet nectar were the stars. And that’s saying something, as the appetizer arrived in stunning fashion: 40 clams piled in a foot-high martini glass. Shrimp parfait ($7.95) overflowed its cocktail glass, layered with cucumber, shrimp, sweet roasted bell peppers and spicy chili sauce.

Even simple spaghetti ($6.95, lunch only) was vibrant and fruity. Fresh tomatoes’ acidity tempered any hint of sweetness that too often ruins red sauce.

Oso buco ($23.95) wasn’t as tender or “slow cooked” as the daily special billing promised, but the four veal shanks were meaty and savory. A tapenade of red, green and yellow bell peppers cut through the starchy coating of flour. It was served with thin triangles of grilled polenta (nicely crusty outside and soft and creamy inside) and winter vegetables that Pantley turned into spicy, roasted medley by dry-browning carrots, squash and broccoli and seasoning them with basil, salt, pepper and crushed-tomato puree.

Toscano’s lunch menu focuses on panini, salads and pasta. I wasn’t impressed with any of the sandwiches. Maybe that’s because I ordered the unimpressive panini sampler ($8.95). Any time you cut a sandwich into sample-sized portions you’re bound to have a greater bread-to-filling ratio. That was the case here. Even so, grilled chicken and tomato, turkey and tomato, both on crusty Italian bread; peppers, eggplant and cheese, and peppers and basil, both on foccacia, lacked excitement. Another bread-based dish was DOA: Little pizza cousins ($5.95) were billed as thinly rolled rustic bread topped with herbs and onion. Instead, the dish was thick foccacia. As something to nibble on, it was good, but way too much bread if you’re dining alone.

The Three Blue Cheese Salad ($5.95) should be called the Two-and-a-Half Blue Cheese Salad. Chunks of blue cheese studded creamy dressing. That’s two blue cheeses. Where’s the third? It’s the half-dollar-sized disc – a baked “biscotini” made with flour, egg and blue cheese – beneath the pale winter tomato. This was the best thing in the salad – a delicious, high-class Cheez-It. Pantley should think about tossing a few more in each salad.

The wine menu is a smartly chosen, including a dozen by-the-glass selections. A full bar menu offers classic cocktails, plus nonalcoholic Italian sodas and my favorite: The Arnold Palmer, lemonade and iced tea ($2.25).

Service gets an A for effort. While one or two displayed the deer-in-headlights look that troubles new operations, most servers went out of their way to accommodate special requests or answer questions. This is how Pantley says he wants it. A lot of Toscano’s customers were customers at Balsano’s, which Pantley sold three years ago after moving the 12-year-old restaurant from Puyallup to University Place. If there’s something from Balsano’s that isn’t on Toscano’s menu – say, veal-wrapped prawns in Marsala cream sauce, or chicken breast sautéed with sun-dried tomatoes, red wine and cinnamon – servers are under orders to get it to you.

Interestingly, Toscano’s is a few doors down from another new Italian restaurant on the block, Mama Stortini’s, which used to be a few blocks away from Balsano’s in University Place. While their menus couldn’t be more different, Pantley says Toscano’s gets some of Mama Stortini’s overflow.

Desserts, made by Pantley’s wife and pastry chef, Cindy, are among the best I’ve had in these parts. Cannoli ($4.95) was filled with creamy ricotta, dried Mission figs and shaved bittersweet chocolate; its fried pastry shell had no hint of grease. Crème brulee ($5.95), while not classically Italian, was classically creamy, its sugar crust perfectly caramelized into a glassy veneer. Chocolate decadence ($6.95), a flourless cake made with chocolate, eggs and butter, was true to its name. Too bad Cindy Pantley couldn’t let it sit at room temperature to take the chill off before serving.

Don’t worry if you have to get a doggie bag in order to save room for dessert. In a classy touch, Toscano’s sends leftovers home in sleek black containers. Sure, they’re just Styrofoam clamshells, but why shouldn’t mid-morning pasta at your desk look as good as it did at Toscano’s the night before? Ed Murrieta: 253-597-8678

ed.murrieta@thenewstribune.com