After a wonderful, yet glitch-filled dinner at the new Bistro last night, I had to ask myself if perhaps our table wasn’t haunted. If so, with the exceptional company at the table and the graciousness of the management and staff, we ghost-busted our way to a truly enjoyable evening.

The Bistro, which opened on Russellville Road in the spring of 2007, has just moved to a picturesque, historical home on College Street near the post office (formerly the EVO restaurant). I love restaurants and old houses, so I was anxious to offer this new home as a celebratory destination during this holiday season.

The Bistro management opted to blend the aged charm with contemporary decor. Bold colors, lots of grained woods (no table cloths on the tables), large daring artwork and a floor to ceiling painting of their logo make up the visual images in the main dining room.

That logo is an eclectic martini glass with an olive and I have to say one of Bistro’s strengths was that the drinks were well mixed (no ghosts behind the bar).

Our first appetizer arrived and we realized the food would be as colorful as the room. The baked olives and feta were served in a deep red marinara sauce with both soft bread and a hard toast. The three flavors together offered tang and delight on each slice of bread.

The toasted ravioli, our second appetizer, were generously thick and crispy, but I prefer a filling of cheese instead of meat in an appetizer like this – but that’s just me and I would recommend you try these, especially if you’ve never had toasted ravioli.

Our order ended up getting lost in the computer system so our entrees took quite some time, yet the management was forthcoming, apologetic and took care of us more than I’ve ever experienced before. These things happen in restaurants and this restaurant gets four stars for civility.

I will say, when the food arrived, it was so delicious we almost forgot how long we’d been waiting (almost). I had the baked tilapia with a kick of garlic, capers and white wine lemon sauce. It was classically delicious.

With country meeting Mediterranean, my dining companion had the Chicken Spadini. This was an oven-baked chicken breast stuffed with applewood smoked bacon. Each meal is served with a starch and veggies, and his meal was served over a delicious bed of risotto. The ghost at our table didn’t see fit to give him his veggies, so I shared mine.

My other dining companions opted for seafood – shrimp scampi for one and stuffed scallops for the other. The jumbo shrimp were tossed in a tomato, basil and garlic butter over linguine cooked to perfection. While the stuffing and light cream sauce of the scallops had an enjoyable flavor, the scallops were cooked too quickly and ended up very chewy (us scallop eaters and cookers assessed the situation, deciding this may have happened as a result of wanting to get us our meal quickly after the haunting glitch).

The impromptu, elongated dining experience translated into many minutes of lively conversation and room for dessert! The cassata cake was layers of cake, ricotta cheese and a cream filling. The cannoli was a crispy pastry tube filled with whipped ricotta cheese. I thoroughly enjoyed both desserts because I love the taste of ricotta cheese, but on that night my dining companions would have preferred more sweetness to each of the desserts.

Ironically, two of my dining companions had been there waiting for their meal the night the kitchen staff walked out of the previous restaurant, so perhaps the ghost had followed them. Regardless, I always enjoy their company and this meal was a restorative success.

Ghosts or no ghosts, I recommend you visit Bistro’s new venue this holiday season, for what will surely become an old favorite as the years go by.

— Our anonymous food reviewer gives new restaurants a six-week grace period before reviewing. To comment, please contact Managing Editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235 or via e-mail to malexieff@bgdailynews.com.

THE BISTRO

1129 College St.

• 781-9646

Hours: Lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Cuisine: Italian

Price range: $9 to $24

Specialties: Pasta, pizza

Libation situation: Full bar

Smoking: Yes