Filling a Need

Campiello actually offers three different venues for enjoying lunch and starlight dinners. There's the raised front terrace that is streetside to Third. Drop in when you want a break from shopping and sit under a market umbrella or at the bar. Order a pizza and you actually will be transported to Italy. The thin-crust pizza is dedicated to the less-is-more theory. Each ingredient is identifiable and distinct. The pizza is baked for only three minutes in a 600-degree wood-burning oven and it comes to the table as a large oval that's been cut into squares. It is the essence of what a successful Italian pizza should be-light, flavorful with all fresh ingredients. At lunch the streetside terrace is relaxing and chatty. At night it swings into party mode, especially when there is live entertainment.

You can also dine in the intimate back courtyard, where you can settle in for a leisurely dinner of comfort foods such as Italian meat loaf with potato puree ($13.95), grilled salmon or veal chop, braised lamb shanks or maybe balsamic glazed short ribs, which are $21.95 and a specialty of the house.

If you prefer to eat inside in one of the two sophisticated dining rooms, make a reservation and expect to be dazzled by Venetian glass, hanging pendant lights and chairs slip-covered in buttery-soft Italian leather. The rooms are modern, airy and metropolitan, with wood-top tables accented with silver-painted curved legs and faux-finish walls and murals executed by Minneapolis artists.

Everything is arranged around the expansive open kitchen so you can watch 38-year-old executive chef Andrew Wicklander direct sous chefs and line cooks in a fast choreography of meal preparation starring a wood-burning grill and slow, twirling spit that turns out amazing chicken. Dinner entrées average about $24 and evening selections include seven different pasta dishes. A children's menu offers four entrées at $6. Desserts are the usual ice cream, crème brûlée, cannoli-something sweet to have with coffee or a dessert wine.

The wine list balances the old and new worlds, with Italian and Californian selections picked to pair with the comfort foods. They range from about $24 a bottle up to $205. Additionally, the bar serves up 24 different martinis including orange truffle, pear and key lime versions. The most popular is the cosmopolitan at $7.

Campiello is that rare restaurant that can appeal to nearly any age and taste. I think that's because the philosophy is to serve food that might have been personally prepared by an Italian grandmother. When it comes to good food, everyone wants to claim such a relative. Now you can.

Campiello Ristorante & Bar

1177 Third Street, Naples. 435-1166. Lunch: Daily from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Dinner: Daily from 5-10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on weekends. Bar: Open all day and evening for snacks and pizza. Bar seats 45 inside and out. Live entertainment: Wednesday-Saturday from 7:30-11 p.m. Major credit cards. Parking on the street or in nearby public lots. Reservations suggested for the two indoor dining rooms. Walk-ins welcome for terrace and courtyard.