When news broke that Loretta Paganini had added a restaurant to the campus of her Chesterland cooking school, I was in no hurry to get there. Culinary schools throughout the country often open student-run restaurants as a way of adding "real world" experience to the students' curriculum. The upshot: Customers pay to eat the homework of inexperienced chefs. No thanks.

That's not the case at Sapore. Heading up the operation is Matthew Anderson, a chef-instructor with over 10 years of industry experience, most of which took place in busy DC restaurants. While the ultimate goal is indeed to have students play a meaningful role in the kitchen, Anderson admits that initially that involvement is minimal.

When Paganini's pastry program moved into the newly constructed International Culinary Arts and Science Institute across the street, space became available for a potential restaurant.

"Loretta [Paganini] has always wanted to open a restaurant," Anderson explained. "She mentioned it to me a year ago when I began teaching at the school. Our visions for the concept meshed so we decided to go for it."

That vision is all about ingredient-driven cuisine. Rather than focus on a particular style of cooking, Anderson lets the ingredients act as muse. Depending on what local, seasonal, organic foodstuffs he gets his hands on, the chef might move in a Mediterranean direction or perhaps create a menu steeped in homey New England comfort foods. To keep things fresh, the menu undergoes weekly tweaks and monthly overhauls.

Sapore, which is Italian for "flavor," is open just Friday and Saturday evenings. The restaurant features a prix fixe-style menu, where guests pay a set price ($55) for a four-course meal. Two choices are available for each course.

On a recent visit, the chef started us off with an amuse bouche of airy chicken liver crostini, gilded with slivers of crisp bacon. The gratis snack accomplished its goal of "amusing the palate." Meals also include addictive little rolls, dotted with course salt and served with grassy extra virgin olive oil.

The first course offers a choice of soup or appetizer. Delightfully smooth, Sapore's onion soup bears little resemblance to the French bistro classic. Here, the long-cooked onions are whirred into a buttery puree. Succulent cipollini onions provide texture, a splash of white wine the acid. Though challenging to eat owing to its size and bone structure, a petite goat chop is both atypical and delicious. A sumac crust provides a tart lift to the gamey meat and thick, minty yogurt gives the dish a breezy Mediterranean vibe.

Preserved lemon adds a bright, summery note to plump eggplant ravioli. The pasta is presented on a bed of chickpea porridge, an unexpected but sound match for the eggplant. Chili peppers add a welcome kick to another pasta dish, this one with sweet little rock shrimp and saffron-scented noodles.

A bacon blanket not only prevents a slab of salmon from drying out, it imbues the oft-bland fish with amazing campfire smokiness. Firm red beets bleed into a pesto sauce, slowly turning it from green to pink. A languorous braise transforms a humble chunk of pork butt into lush, savory flesh. The meat is garnished with herby onions and set into a puddle of pureed potatoes.

We go one for two on the dessert course, snubbing a dish of hot pineapple chunks in favor of a moist chocolate torte permeated with Ohio walnuts.

At just 35 seats, Sapore offers a peaceful, intimate dining experience. With maize-colored walls and pocked wood floors, the room has an informal farmhouse-chic feel. Pacing of courses is brisk but not rushed, and portions were such that we left neither hungry nor stuffed.

Sapore's wine list features a white and red by the glass and another dozen or so bottles, largely Italian. But the presence of a list should not discourage guests from bringing their own ($10 corkage), says Anderson. "To think that I know more about my customers' taste in wine is a little presumptuous, I feel."

Cheers to that!

Sapore: 8623 Mayfield Rd., Chesterland, 440.729.1110. Hours: Friday and Saturday only, seatings from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.