The dining room at Camille’s, above, is warmly furnished with rich red walls.

Among Providence restaurants, Camille’s claims a particular kind of cachet.

For one thing, it is one of the city’s oldest restaurants, having begun in 1914 as Marconi’s (named for the inventor), on Atwells Avenue around the corner from its present location on Bradford Street, where it moved in 1919.

And since the Roaring Twenties, Camille’s has had a colorful history, landing in the news more than a few times as the favored haunt of all sorts of celebrities, both local and national, from Frank Sinatra (whose crooning still provides a frequent soundtrack to dining room conversation) to movie director Michael Corrente.

Pasquale Parolisi started the restaurant, and after 40 years passed it to his son Jack, who named it Camille’s Roman Garden for his wife and for the Etruscan-themed grottoes that then were integral to the decor. Her nephew, Gary Mantoosh, continued the family ownership until 2001. If you’re counting, that makes nearly 90 years of Camille’s as Camille’s — for many people the signature restaurant of Federal Hill.

The nontraditional shepherd’s pie with an Italian accent, right, is inspired.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

So it was a surprise five years ago when the place was sold to an ownership group, Top of the Hill, and even more of a shock when it changed both its look and its menu at one fell swoop. The change went over badly, and within a matter of months the present management team (with Dave Florence as CEO) swept in to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Now, five years in, Camille’s seems to have found its niche once again. Certainly it pleased me and my dining companions on several recent visits, and I have to admit that I surprised myself by liking the place so much. I had thought of Camille’s as either too Old World or too nouveau — or as a potentially unpleasant combination of the two. Such is not the case. In fact, if anything, Camille’s combines the best of both worlds in both its style and its menu.

The dining room is warmly furnished with rich red walls that make everyone look good. If you’re not into fancy, then you want the bar lounge, a lovely space around a gas fireplace that manages to feel intimate while within earshot of a very lively bar.

The white-and-dark- chocolate bread pudding, left, is served with Port wine caramel sauce and whipped cream.

At weekday lunchtimes, all bar stools are occupied by a bevy of businessmen, lawyers, and pols — all of them yakking and joking and loving the attentions of the pretty young woman tending bar. And such a deal for the food, too! A set price weekday lunch includes a main dish such as a tasty Tagliatelle Bolognese, a salad and a non-alcoholic beverage for $13.