{CUISINE: Excellent. SERVICE: Excellent. VALUE: Excellent. AMBIANCE: Gracious, lively and colorful. COST: Reasonable to moderate (Entrees, $13-$28). 655 Capitola Road, Santa Cruz. 479-0200. Hours: Open Monday through Saturday for dinner, 5 to 10 p.m.}

By ANN PARKER

SENTINEL FOOD CRITIC

It’s not every day someone wins you in an auction.

But that’s just what I experienced recently after donating “Dinner With the Reviewer” to the Davenport Resource Center’s annual silent auction. When I chatted with the top bidder, Tom, we discovered several mutual friends and decided we’d probably met before — not that I was worried about food critic stalkers. I wanted to select a restaurant new to him, one with a variety of dishes and an interesting atmosphere. Sestri seemed a good choice, especially since I knew that this charming, Italy-meets-California restaurant recently hired a hot new chef, Tom Slatt.

We met at Sestri, welcomed warmly at the door by owner John Mootz. He led us through the bar area, which was jumping with patrons enjoying Wine Down Wednesday, one of several weekly Sestri promotions featuring food, music, wine and/or beer specials.

Once we were seated in the attractive main dining room our attentive server, Ernie, brought excellent Aldo’s ciabatta, balsamic vinegar and sweetly nutty olive oil. John’s family owns Aldo’s Bakery as well as Aldo’s Harbor Restaurant.

Tom chose that evening’s three-course, $19.95 prix fixe dinner (available 5-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, plus all night Tuesday), selecting Tuscan White Bean Soup, Ligurian Seafood Stew/Cioppino and dessert.

“I love cioppino,” he said happily. I ordered a la carte, choosing Proscuitto e Papaya ($7) and Great Alaskan Cod Cakes ($8) to share, with pork tenderloin Maiale Livorno ($16) as my entree.

We requested Chateau St. Michelle Reisling 2004 (glass, $6) and Lockwood Sauvignon Blanc 2004 (glass, $6). Both pleasantly flavorful wines worked well with our appetizers, particularly the salted cod cakes: pan-fired with pancetta and tarragon, the two tasty cakes perched amid rustic whole-grain mustard sauce and a mini misto salad. Our proscuitto starter featured slices of papaya lavishly wrapped with remarkably tender proscuitto, pomegranate reduction and fresh mint chiffonade. The lush meat somewhat overwhelmed the papaya’s delicate tropical flavor but I was still seduced. And both of us were impressed with Tom’s outstanding Tuscan bean soup, thick with carrot, Swiss chard, baby-tender white beans and rich shavings of Parmesan. When was the last time a bean soup made you say “Wow”?

Our very different entrees both shone. Tom’s tomato-based cioppino brimmed with delectable chunks of fish and crab, little Bay scallops, fat shrimp, mussels and clams. The dish was perfect, from the consistency and subtle heat of the broth to its simple presentation. My entree starred velvettender pork medallions enhanced with Gorgonzola demi-glace and sliced fennel fanned across a bed of rather salty sauteed chard and surprisingly robust carrot-potato puree. When I asked Ernie about shifting to red wine, he informed John, who brought a brightly balanced Thomas Fogarty Skyline Merlot 2005 (glass, $8) that complemented the pork perfectly.

Throughout the meal, Tom and I talked nonstop about food, movies and travel, but dessert took our full attention. Beautifully plated, both featured berries and piroulines; my wickedly decadent Amarone Cake ($7) oozed molten chocolate next to intensely flavorful vanilla-bean gelato. Tom’s Lemon Mascarpone Cheesecake, light yet densely citrus-creamy, offered a delightful counterpoint to my choco-volcanic dessert (for the cheesecake recipe, see www.sestrisantacruz.com.)

As we left (still talking food) I said, “I had forgotten how much I like this place.” Chef Slatt has upheld Sestri’s generous use of local produce; he has also added several imaginative new menu items, including my sumptuous pork dish.

All in all, I recommend auctioning yourself off, if you’re assured of an interesting companion and an enjoyable restaurant. Tom called the experience “A wonderful adventure” — so hopefully he got his money’s worth.

Ann Parker is a freelance writer and public relations consultant; she welcomes your comments and feedback. Suggestions about reviews for area restaurants? Contact her at atparker@pacbell.net.

More about chef Tom Slatt

Chef Tom Slatt’s connections with Sestri owner John Mootz go back a generation: their mothers have been best friends their whole lives.

Interested in cooking since his teen years, Slatt has extensive culinary training and experience including opening Rick’s Bluewater Grill in Colorado and working at Mi Piaci, a four-star Dallas restaurant.

Most recently, he co-founded the award-winning Café Italia in Dallas. It was heralded as an immediate success, attracting celebrities from political and arts circles and earning kudos as one of Dallas’ top restaurants.

Slatt came to Sestri just over two months ago. His ideas for the future include seasonal specialties, Sunday cooking classes and offering wild game dishes in the winter.

‘And I make amazing osso bucco,’ he adds.

What does Slatt think about being back in California?

‘This is exactly what I’ve been heading for — it’s a great fit and we’re going to have a lot of fun,’ he says.

‘We’re really pleased to have such a pro in the kitchen,’ Mootz adds. ‘I think Santa Cruz will be very pleased.’