By TERRA WALTERS, For Entertainment

The reason for the exhilaration in Stevensville? The exciting young owners of Annapolis's popular Luna Blu, Ivano and Michelina Scotto, have opened Rustico Restaurant and Wine Bar on the site of the former Love Point Inn. A visit on a midweek winter evening confirms what would most assuredly have been predicted: diners already have found them. Together with their partner Gino Romano, the Scottos have quickly found favor with patrons since their opening just this past December.

Rustico imports its bread dough from Italy, so we were more than content to take our time studying the menu while we nibbled on the warm crusty bread. (Even though olive oil was served as an accompaniment to the bread, a request for butter by two members of our group was quickly filled.)

With so many appealing selections from the Antipasti section of the menu, extra time was needed for discussion and deliberation. One starter, however, was a shoo-in for it's a long-time favorite from the Luna Blu menu: Mozzarella and Eggplant Napolean. Ultimately, the Calamari Fritti and the Gamberi Napoletana made the final cut as well.

Before we continue with our discussion of their terrific food, we should give props to Rustico's laudable wine list. If you're going to call yourself a restaurant and wine bar, it behooves you to make sure the wine offerings are varied and interesting. Bingo!

Easily navigable, the comprehensive list contains 20 selections for less than $30 per bottle, a thoughtful gesture to diners who like wine but are often daunted by pricey wine lists. The wine list also includes vintage years and offers a full page of very nice wines that can be ordered by the glass. Think the wine news can't get any better at Rustico? Wrong. Each Monday and Wednesday, a half-price wine offer is in place.

My favorites from the wine list at Rustico are the Piemontese choices with a favorably priced 2006 Seghesio Dolcetto D' Alba at $30 receiving high marks, but with an enthusiastic nod to the 2006 Antinori Santa Cristina Sangiovese at $32 as well.

As is always the case, our group ordered starters "for the table" and made sure that each choice was agreeable to the entire group. To the surprise of none of the Luna Blu fans at our table, the Calamari Fritti ($9) was magnificent. The squid was tender and the savory breading was light, airy and crunchy. Both a mouth-watering pesto aioli and a homemade marinara sauce are offered for dipping (and we unabashedly polished off the rest of the dipping sauces with bread chunks.)

Gamberi Napoletana ($11) proffers fresh and fleshy shrimp sauteed with tomatoes, garlic, capers and black olives, then spread on slabs of the special Italian bread, grilled fetchingly for this dish. It was quite a success, and got enthusiastic thumbs-up from everyone.

The Napoleon ($8) is a construction layered with buffalo mozzarella, grilled eggplant and thick slices of tomato, then drizzled with a creditable balsamic vinaigrette and topped with leaves of fresh basil. Though more optimally presented when mid-summer tomatoes are available, the dish itself manages to taste good in spite of the winter fruit.

Remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? The modern day version, taking place in many restaurants, would unfortunately be rewritten with Goldilocks taking a bite from one dish of porridge and announcing, 'This is too bland." Then, instead of finding too much seasoning in the second dish, and just the right amount in the final one, she would proclaim the other two excessively bland as well. For whatever reason, a lot of restaurants don't season food properly these days and the culprit is usually a dearth of salt.

Not the case at Rustico, as every dish we tasted was impeccably seasoned, not just with salt but with fresh herbs as well.

To me, one of the greatest compliments one can pay to a chef is to walk into his or her restaurant and feel completely comfortable handing over the decision-making with regard to what you eat. I can't imagine that anyone doing that with Ivano Scotto would be disappointed. His pastas are properly al dente, his sauces manage to be both complex and light, and flavors are woven together like a beautiful tapestry. In other words, his dishes work, from ideation to execution to presentation.

We didn't leave the ordering up to him, however, as each of us found something that "spoke to us" from the menu.

With one diner, it was the Salmone Con Spinaci ($24) that involved a melt-in-your-mouth grilled salmon fillet that was served with scallops and crab in a laudable Alfredo sauce atop a bed of tender sauteed spinach. A tour de force.

The second member of our group opted for the Seafood Fra Diavola ($26) with sauteed lobster, scallops, clams, mussels, shrimp and calamari in a savory marina with linguine. Usually in a dish like this, at least one of the offerings from the sea will be sub-par, but not this time. Every component was delectable.

The other members of the party decided on veal, with one ordering the Vitello Marsala ($21) and the other the Vitello Spinaci ($22). The former boasted an amazing marsala wine sauce liberally studded with succulent mushrooms (the leftovers made a super lunch the next day) and the latter included more of the tasty spinach and an appealing roasted red pepper bechamel.

As long as we had loved tiramisu, none of us had ever known that it was Italian for "lift me up." Rustico's version ($7) did indeed "lift us up," again with incredible lightness and melding of flavors with an excellent mascarpone and whispers of chocolate and espresso.

The regular coffee ($2) as well as the espresso ($3) were top notch and allowed us a bit more time to enjoy the ambiance and the pleasure of time spent with good friends. The reason for this celebratory feast was my birthday, and with a dining experience like that? Happy Birthday to me!