NOT TO PUT too fine a point on it, but Silicon Valley is a wasteland of boring and mediocre Italian food. There are some exceptions, but these restaurants are few and far between.

I'm always on the lookout for Italian restaurants that offer something beyond the same old menu of pizza, eggplant parmigiana and lasagna. Give me some hearty but simple Roman food. Surprise me with an eastern-looking menu from Trieste. Thrill me with the rustic tastes of Sardinia.

But please, hold the garlic bread and scampi. I've had enough of that stuff to last me a lifetime. The food is like listening to classic rock. Lynyrd Skynyrd is OK now and then, but if I never heard "Sweet Home Alabama" again, I could still live a happy and productive life. I feel the same way about pasta carbonara and cheese manicotti.

So, when I learned that former La Strada chef Donato Scotti was opening Donato Enoteca in Redwood City, I saw reason for hope. Palo Alto's La Strada is one of the few Italian restaurants that can wake me out of my spaghetti and meatball stupor.

After beginning his cooking career in his native Italy, Scotti worked at Los Angeles' famed Valentino. He then joined Il Fornaio in Walnut Creek and Palo Alto. From there, he opened La Strada in 2004. Donato Enoteca opened five weeks ago in a prime spot near City Hall in the increasingly appealing downtown Redwood City. The restaurant offers three distinct dining rooms, outdoor sitting, a full bar and an open kitchen presided over by the affable Scotti, who can be seen shaking hands with customers and mussing up the hair of their kids.

Although there are a few standards, like pizza, panini and tiramisu, the bulk of the menu is a fresh breeze of lesser-known dishes that stray from the well-worn Italian-American path. The execution of the menu, however, runs hot and cold.

When the kitchen is on target, Donato Enoteca scores with rustic but elegant preparations of pan-Italian cuisine. Instead of breading and frying calamari like everyone else, Donato grills fresh and meaty Monterey Bay squid ($8) and pairs them with fat bianchi di spagna beans and mache. I loved the baby artichokes ($7). The little thistles are fried until the outer leaves are wonderfully crisp like tiny artichoke-flavored potato chips, while the tiny hearts stay moist and sweet. The prosecco vinegar-mint sauce offers a refreshing counternote.

Donato's wood-fired pizzas are textbook perfect, with a thin, barely there crust that offers just enough structure to support the judiciously applied toppings. The margherita ($10) is a simple but delicious beauty. The mozzarella commingles with the tomato sauce to create a wonderfully creamy tomato-cheese hybrid.

That same simplicity extended to my sausage sandwich ($9). An aromatic, house-made pork sausage patty shares space between slices of grilled ciabatta with a few grilled asparagus spears and a light spread of mustard. That's all, and it was just great.

The roasted cod ($16) hits the mark, too. Paired with fregola (pea-size pasta), artichoke, parsley and a sparkle of cleansing acidity from a splash of white wine, the dish didn't knock me back in my chair, but it won me over with subtle clean flavors and impeccable freshness.

Those were the high points. For a chef with Scotti's experience, the missteps were hard to accept. The "bigoli" pasta (a thick, spaghettilike noodle) with braised oxtail, tomato and asparagus tips ($14) was as gummy as boiled Play-Doh. The other ingredients were spot-on, but the leaden pasta dragged the dish down. The ricotta-cheese-filled ravioli with fava beans, peeled cherry tomatoes and arugula pesto ($13) was equally chewy and heavy, especially at the edges where the pasta comes together. And the fava beans were undercooked by about 60 seconds. The restaurant has only been open five weeks and is undoubtedly working out the kinks, but an Italian restaurant with a pedigree like this one should get pasta right on day one.

Prosciutto e pinzin ($9) is described as a traditional dumpling from Emilia-Romagna served with 18-month-old prosciutto. It sounded good on paper, but the fried dumplings were dry and flavorless, and the slices of cured meat draped over the top were strangely coarse and chalky.

The biggest clunker was the marinated and grilled top-round lamb ($19). I asked for medium-rare, but the meat lacked even a hint of pink. The server graciously whisked it away and promised another plate would be forthcoming right away. It did come quickly, but it verged on medium, and the lamb was tough and strikingly bland.

For a new restaurant, service is quite smooth and professional. The staff knows the menu and appears to coordinate well with the kitchen. As you might expect, the wine list is heavy on Italian wines and contains some reasonably priced bottles and a $550 amarone if you're in the mood. I loved the 2005 Cannonau di Sardegna from Sella and Mosca. It's a great food wine and is available by the glass for $10, but a bottle is a better deal at $36. The bar also makes a fine Negroni ($9).

Desserts, like the rest of menu, are mixed. The tiramisu ($9) is as good as it gets—layers of gooey chocolate and espresso-soaked cake capped with thick and creamy mascarpone cheese. While not particularly original, the molten chocolate hazelnut cake with vanilla gelato ($9) is easy to love, too. But the jellolike, layered berry and lemon panna cotta ($8) fell flat.

Donato Enoteca gets many things right: a great location, a warm and inviting space, a professional staff and the welcoming presence of Donato himself. While the food has its moments, it's the only element not yet in place. But with few other Italian restaurant options, I'm prepared to wait.