It’s called Land & Sea and includes littlenecks, shrimp and chicken breast atop a mound of linguini and tomato sauce.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

CRANSTON — In the seven years Mario Santilli has been in the kitchen of Mario’s Risto/Bar, two of his dishes have been requested for the Chef’s Secret column in the Providence Journal. That’s quite an accomplishment for a self-trained chef, as Santilli describes himself.

We didn’t try the two Chef’s Secret recipes Santilli had shared with Journal readers — the Scrod alla Pescatora (scrod sautéed with calamari, littlenecks and chopped clams) which ran in 2005; Veal Bolognese (with the meat served chunky style rather than ground up) which ran last year — although I made the scrod at home and it was superb.

Santilli has such an inventive touch in the kitchen that one is tempted to try everything. For Santilli combines ingredients not often found together — sea scallops with sharp provolone; a sirloin stuffed with Gorgonzola and portobello mushrooms; a grilled chicken breast sautéed with sausage, jumbo shrimp and steamed littlenecks; veal tenderloins sautéed with jumbo shrimps and sea scallops, garnished with kalamata olives.

Mario’s Risto/Bar (the risto stands for ristorante) is a narrow space that hugs a corner near St. Ann’s Church. Inviting and warm, there’s a plank-board ceiling, mauve-colored walls, white paper over the tablecloths, gray-and-white floor tiles, artificial potted plants and, at the door, a small electric fireplace. It’s always quarter to six on the ornate wall clock near the entrance to the bar, which is up a few steps from the restaurant. Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin and Rosemary Clooney (singing “Mambo Italiano”) provided the background soundtrack. In a later phone call I discovered that not only was it Mario’s wife, Carol, who waited on us on our visit, but that she heads the corporation. They’ve been married almost 30 years, he said, and have been in the restaurant business in various locations for most of those years.

Good crusty — but not warm — Italian bread with plates of olive oil dipping sauce that had been gussied up with pepper made for a nice welcome. So did glasses of fragrant homemade red sangria ($8) that had a sweet touch.

Like the entrée selections, the appetizer menu held promise of things out of the ordinary, such as house-made Maryland crab cakes with a Caribbean tomato salsa ($9.95); a Portobello Big Mac ($8.95) layered with grilled vegetables and mozzarella; a Scampi Risto ($10.95) with the shrimp in a tomato salsa broth baked with crumbled blue cheese and garnished with toasted pita bread points. “I try to see what goes with what and I try to be a little bit different,” said Santilli who uses all his own recipes and only has one part-time assistant in the kitchen.

I was tempted by the “Big Mac,” but in the end the Rabe Portobello ($9.95) won out because one doesn’t always find broccoli rabe on menus, at least outside Italian restaurants. The rabe had been sautéed to tenderness with garlic in olive oil, then topped with long slices of grilled portobello and shredded sharp provolone. It was a zesty dish, a large serving in which the slightly bitter flavor of the rabe was offset by the pungent saltiness of the provolone and the mild richness of the meaty portobello. There was an extra zing to the dish thanks to the dusting of paprika around the plate.

We also dove into the artichoke hearts ($8.95), stuffed to bursting with a heady mix of ground Italian ham, olives and roasted peppers baked and laced with a Gorgonzola cheese sauce. Our waitress said it was one of the most popular appetizers and it was obvious why, the slightly acidic artichokes getting a boost from the moist ham mixture.

There was a lag between our appetizers and the arrival of the entrée, no doubt thanks to that big party of eight at the front of the room to whom a seemingly endless parade of heaping plates of food was delivered from the kitchen. As their selections passed by, however, it gave us a peek into the wide variety of dishes Santilli makes.

Happily, the Land & Sea ($19.95) that I’d ordered was worth the wait. A mound of linguini in a thin but delicious tomato sauce of olive oil, garlic and a tomato-basil broth that included chunks of tomato, was topped by an ample chicken breast that had a just-off-the-grill taste — and the grill marks to prove it. It was surrounded by thin slices of Italian sausage which carried just a hint of spiciness, although definitely not hot-spicy. On top of the chicken were twin plump littlenecks and a pair of large shrimp, though not quite the jumbo size the menu had promised. Slices of sautéed onion and garlic completed this hearty dish.

Hearty, too, was the word for the large bowl of penne that had a rich marinara sauce with chunky bits of tomato. It could have been an entrée all by itself, but it was merely the sideshow to the Veal Windsor ($20.95). Pounded thin and very tender veal tenderloins had been sautéed with a large shrimp and a pair of sea scallops in a buttery tomato demi glace made even thicker by melted mozzarella, giving it a velvety texture. A sprinkling of kalamata olives added a deeper touch to the flavor.

Carol said that although Mario usually makes a couple of desserts — often spumoni or apple bread pudding — this wasn’t one of those days. Nevertheless, a tiramisu ($5.95) was light and delicious; the chocolate layer cake ($5.95) fudgy and rich. It wasn’t the spumoni, but satisfying nonetheless.

Mario’s Risto/Bar, 20 Haven Ave., Cranston. (401) 942-1009. Dressy casual. A couple of steps at entrance. Child seats. Reservations for six or more. AE, MC, V. Small parking lot. Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tue.-Fri.; dinner 4:30 to 9 p.m. Tue.-Thur.; 4:30 to 10 p.m. Fri.; 5 to 10 p.m. Sat. Appetizers $4.50 to $10.95. Entrees $14.95 to $21.95. Wines are $6 to $79 by the glass; $18 to $40 for a bottle.BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at Mario’s Risto/Bar might look something like this:

Two glasses of sangria…$16.00

Rabe Portobello…$9.95

Veal Windsor…$20.95

Land & Sea…$19.95

Tiramisu…$5.95

Total food and drink…$72.80

Tax…$5.82

Tip…$15.00

Total bill…$93.62

mjanuson@projo.com