BASIL, TOMATO, MOZZARELLA They’re combined in one of Mangiamo’s specialty pizzas.

You just have to love a restaurant that carries champagne in a can. Let me clarify. You have to love a restaurant that carries good champagne in a can — along the lines of Sofia Blanc de Blanc. The bubbly ($7), a father-to-daughter tribute for Sofia Coppola, arrives in a single-serving portion, perfect for sharing with absolutely nobody. Its presence on a wine list suggests to diners that the restaurant doesn't take itself too seriously, but that it isn't willing to sacrifice quality for the sake of whimsy or thrift.

Mangiamo! owner Michael Beder, who also runs the popular Glory Days Tavern in nearby Kent, saw a hunger for quality, affordable food in the Twin Lakes area. He wanted to create a restaurant where the food rivaled that of neighboring restaurants, but at lower prices. Proof he succeeded is evident in the fact that most of the menu items taste wonderful, and all but one are priced below $20.

Assistance comes from executive chef Adam Smith, one with first-hand experience running a casual, mid-priced Italian bistro. Smith, a grad of Penn Culinary, served as opening chef at Bricco, downtown Akron's "phunky pizza and pasta" joint.

To keep prices modest, many chefs source mediocre product and take numerous shortcuts when preparing them. Smith, on the other hand, refuses to stoop to such measures. Meat and fish are all of top quality. Fresh pasta comes from the skilled hands at Ohio City Pasta. Ravioli is filled in-house. Pizzas are made to order. Tomatoes and chicken are hot-smoked behind the restaurant.

Mangiamo! opened six months back in a rustic 100-year-old train depot. Most recently the space was home to the Black Squirrel Pub, by all accounts a great bar serving middling food. The interior is a sea of dark wood, with the original wide-plank wood floors still in place. A massive stone fireplace roars in chilly months. To be perfectly honest, the food and setting make strange bedfellows.

If the décor doesn't exactly herald the Italian food to come, the warm focaccia bread served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar most certainly does. So too does the wine list, with its broad reach into Italy netting bubbly proseccos, light and crisp pinot grigios, moderately priced sangiovese blends, and big, lush Amarones and Barolos. New World fans are treated to food-friendly pinots and banging California zins. The beer list is nothing to sneeze at either.

Offering an interesting take on the traditional stuffed hot peppers ($10), Smith swaps out the customary sausage filling with a toothsome risotto. Of course, there are flavorful bits of fennel-scented sausage tucked into the rice. Chunky house-made marinara is on hand to sauce the peppers.

While slightly ungainly, an appetizer of four snowball-size artichoke fritters ($8.50) does not go to waste. Whole artichoke hearts are breaded and deep fried. Dissecting the fritters with a knife releases a torrent of molten boursin cheese, offering an unexpected but welcome counter to the crunchy shell.

Pizzas, priced from $9 to $15, range from the austere (basil, tomato, mozzarella) to the extravagant (beef tenderloin, house-cured tomato, smoked mozzarella). All make a great starter, or, when paired with, say, a sturdy iceberg wedge ($7) dotted with crisp pancetta, chives and blue cheese, and one of the aforementioned bottles of wine, the perfect bistro meal.

House-smoked tomatoes, used to make the vodka-cream sauce, and fresh pasta add depth to a plush bowl of wild mushroom tagliatelle ($14). In the "grown-up" mac and cheese ($15), it is the smoked chicken and smoked cheddar that help transform a hackneyed dish into a hearty table-pleaser. The dense orecchiette pasta cups the sauce better than elbow macaroni.

A breaded veal chop ($19) arrives with a spectacular crust made from focaccia bread crumbs, fresh herbs and fistfuls of grated cheese. It effectively seals in the meat's moisture while adding copious amounts of flavor. Grated cheese also lends a flavor boost to a mound of mashed potatoes.

The sear on three corpulent sea scallops ($19) could not have been better had the chef taken a blowtorch to them. The caramelized tops and bottoms transport the scallops to off-the-charts sweetness. Pancetta and pesto flavor the accompanying risotto.

We got cheated out of the pork osso buco ($18); this house specialty, which consists of a massive shank slow-braised for the better part of a day and laid to rest on a bed of saffron risotto, frequently sells out.

Twin Lakes, a tight-knit community of agreeable folks, is taking to Mangiamo! like ducks to a pond. And soon, they'll be able to sip champagne out of a can on a sprawling new patio. Not a bad way to spend an evening.