The arancini appetizer: risotto cakes with prosciutto, accompanied by a Parmigiano cream sauce and a roasted red pepper coulis.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

CRANSTON Antonio’s Trattoria is no longer your father’s chicken parm and veal Marsala place, although both are still on the menu. Antonio’s has been a mainstay in the Knightsville neighborhood for nearly four decades. But people who haven’t been there in a while, at least post-makeover last December in both the dining rooms and on the menu, should be prepared to ooh and aah.

Tony Micheletti, who bought Antonio’s nearly a quarter century ago, is still there seven days a week to greet customers, too. But it’s really his son, Anthony, who keeps the place humming.

New, trendier look

The makeover in the dining rooms has given this trattoria a look that would be equally at home in the trendier parts of Milan. In the middle of Knightsville’s “Little Italy” Restaurant Row (its neighbors are Caffe Itri, L’Osteria and Marchetti’s), Antonio’s is elegant, cozy and up to date in its fare.

It’s larger than it seems at first glance. There are actually two airy, uncluttered dining rooms at both the front and rear of the building with big windows that let in lots of sunlight during the day. The dining rooms are separated by a passageway and then the bar, which runs the length of one wall. Three large horseshoe-shaped banquettes are on the other side of a high partition from the bar.

We sat here, where the mood is more subdued than in the front dining room, where the early evening sunlight was still filtering through translucent shades. Plus, we could keep an eye on the Boston Red Sox game being played out on a flat-panel television on the wall above one end of the bar. (We knew the staff at Antonio’s was very accommodating when they switched from a New York Yankees game to the Red Sox just for us.)

In a phone call following the visit, Anthony Micheletti, who also runs Basta in Pawtuxet Village with his wife, Joanne, said the rear dining room is mainly used for weekend overflows and private parties. On warm days there’s also outdoor dining on the Cranston Street side. There’s also a dining room upstairs, but it’s closed until it can be renovated.

Shortly after we were seated, our unobtrusive but helpful waiter, Christian (who turned out to be Anthony Micheletti’s son), told us that Antonio’s was changing its menu in the near future. (By the time I called back three days later, it had been done.) So we chose from both the day’s tempting specials and the regular menu, with an eye toward items that might remain on their new menu. We were fairly certain that linguine with clams, chicken Marsala and the chicken Parmigiano and veal Parmigiano dishes would be there no matter what. Probably the fried smelts, too. And we were right.

Chef Keegan Dunson, who last was executive sous chef at Mistral in Boston, said they’d been auditioning some of the potential new menu items as daily specials. Luckily, the ones we tried were the ones that made the cut.

A bubbly start

We started with a glass of bubbly Canella Prosecco ($8.75) and the Chateau St. Michelle Riesling ($8.25), which arrived shortly after a basket of crusty Italian bread — crunchily crisp on the outside; marvelously chewy on the inside — accompanied by whipped butter and whipped ricotta. The ricotta sat in a touch of olive oil, topped with a sprinkling of black pepper and red pepper flakes for a yummy new touch. (Have to try this at home.)

Instead we chose the arancini from the regular menu ($7.95) and a thin-sliced portobello carpaccio ($9.50) from the daily specials that had been so temptingly described by Christian, with its pine nuts, grapes, fried mozzarella and arugula with a balsamic vinaigrette, that who could resist?

Both appetizers were good-size portions. The arancini, three risotto cakes about the size of crab cakes, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, were presented stunningly on a rectangular plate with alternate drizzles of a Parmigiano cream sauce that tempered the slightly spicy roasted red pepper coulis. This was a tasty change from the usual marinara sauce. The rice was perked up with a wonderful addition of tender peas and chopped prosciutto.

We couldn’t decide whether we liked this dish more than the paper-thin slices of portobello, its dusky pine nuts and slightly bitter arugula tamed by the sweet, yet light, balsamic vinaigrette. On either side, a pair of crab cake-shaped, lightly fried mozzarella cakes, to add more mellowness.

A special twist

We both ordered items from the regular menu — the seafood Fra Diavolo ($21.50) for me; the spice rubbed sirloin steak ($23.95) for my dining companion. On the daily special menu there was a sirloin as well. However, instead of the mashed potatoes that accompanied the steak on the regular menu, it came with a side of thin-sliced potatoes fried in truffle oil and sprinkled with Parmesan and parsley flakes. That sounded too good to pass up, certainly more intriguing than mashed potatoes. Christian gave in to our whim without a second thought and made the substitution. We couldn’t have been more delighted. These fries, which arrived in a paper cone, were crisp like proper French fries, but had a sensational new flavor courtesy of the truffle oil, Parmesan and parsley flakes. The sirloin was cooked just right to a touch below medium, and it was sliced down the middle so you could see that it was done perfectly even before cutting into it. It was wonderfully tender and robust in its red wine beef reduction with the spice rub adding an extra boost. On top was a scattering of slim green beans.

My Fra Diavolo was billed as being in a “spicy lobster tomato broth.” Now often, even when a restaurant warns that this is a spicy dish, it is not. At Antonio’s there wasn’t a three-alarm fire in the dish. Yet it was just spicy enough to know that there was some heat there, although nothing that overwhelmed the seafood. Atop a good-size portion of linguine were five littleneck clams, a pair of large shrimp, several deliciously tender sea scallops and a generous serving of calamari, both rings and (yum!) tentacles, which you don’t find everywhere. The seafood held its own in the flavor department, despite the spicy lobster-tomato broth, especially the shrimp, which had a solid taste of the sea.

Sweet banana ending

There are both homemade and made-elsewhere desserts and we opted for the ones made at Antonio’s. My scrumptious banana bread pudding ($7.95) was a huge mound of the warm, very moist, sweet custard-y bread concoction, which includes banana liqueur and bits of banana, as well as both dark and golden raisins, said chef Dunson. It’s smothered in a brown sugar caramel sauce. On the side, a small bowl of rum raisin ice cream.

What would an Italian restaurant be without tiramisu? My dining companion was impressed with the size of the big brick of tiramisu ($7.95), its moistness and that one of its layers was a chocolate ganache. It was impressive, but the banana bread pudding was outstanding. So much so, we wished we had ordered a second to bring home for the next day.

Certainly the “new” Antonio’s Trattoria is another good reason to head to the Knightsville section of Cranston.BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at Antonio’s Trattoria might look something like this:

Canella Prosecco…$8.75

Chateau St. Michelle Riesling…$8.25

Arancini…$7.95

Seafood Fra Diavolo…$21.50

Sirloin…$23.95

Banana bread pudding…$7.95

Total food and drink…$78.35

Tax…$6.27

Tip…$16.00

Total bill…$100.62

Antonio’s Trattoria, 1710 Cranston St., Cranston. (401) 943-1932, antoniotrattoria.com. Dressy casual. Handicapped accessible. Children’s seats. Reservations. AE, MC, V. Parking lot. Dinner 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sun. to Thurs., to 10 p.m. Fri. and Sat. Appetizers $6.25 to $12.50. Entrees $13.95 to $25.95. Wines are $5.95 to $10.50 by the glass; $28 to $125 for a bottle.

mjanuson@projo.com