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Bistro Roca combines the French "bistro" - a café where the food is casual, servers are likely to know your name, and friends gather often - with the Spanish "roca," or rock, to produce the nomenclature for this Blowing Rock establishment. I have been admiring the work of chef-partner Michael Foreman for several years, since I watched him and his team work during the Fire on the Rock Chef's Challenge (this year's dates: April 16-19; see www.blueridgewinefestival.com and www.crippens.com; click on Chef's Challenge).

Chef Foreman's other, more formal restaurant, "G" at the Gideon Ridge Inn ((202 Gideon Ridge Road, 828-295-3644, www.gideonridge.com), received highly complimentary remarks in a travel column I wrote last fall, although I have not completed a full review yet. Actually, I did not plan to write a review of Bistro Roca at this point in time. But when my wife and I dropped in for lunch one afternoon during Winterfest, we enjoyed the experience so much, we felt compelled to return. Further acquaintance mandated communication with loyal readers. I get the impression that Bistro Roca is already well-known to local residents. Triad patrons should not be left out.

The ambience puts me in mind of a mountain lodge. Rustic wood, brick and stone form the structure's interior. The Antlers Bar is situated to the left, as you enter. Photographs of neighborhood dogs and their humans, along with an occasional cat, decorate the walls. In the main dining room, a wood-burning fireplace occupies center stage. A large patio on the back offers scenic views.

Warm crusty bread with Parmesan cheese and pesto sauce melted on top arrives as soon as it comes out of the oven. Perusal of the beer list reveals consistently attractive offerings from artisan as well as mass market brewers. All wines, priced in clusters ($6/glass, $22/bottle, $8/glass, $33/bottle, $11/glass, $44/bottle,) are available by the glass. We found much to enjoy at reasonable prices.

Servers provided reliable guidance regarding matches with food, and their comments revealed thorough knowledge about ingredients and preparations.

We started lunch with a soup ($3/cup, $5/bowl) of chicken, corn, kale, and artichokes, with Parmesan-potato dumplings. This is hearty, but not heavy or excessively filling.

Evening starters revealed a treasure as well as a unique variation on a rather ubiquitous item. Roasted Figs ($7) rest in a warm blend of sourwood honey and herbed olive oil, with slices of Manchego cheese alongside. The cheese cuts the sweetness of the honey. These can also be ordered wrapped in prosciutto ($9). Either way, they constitute a taste adventure worth a drive in itself, especially in combination with sips of red wine.

Lots of places serve an imitation of Oysters Rockefeller. Bistro Roca's Fried Oysters Rockefeller ($10) places five plump oysters, lightly coated in fine cornmeal and fried to a crisp exterior while retaining their natural moistness inside, over obviously fresh spinach leaves ladled with cream sauce and a blend of melted Parmesan cheese and bacon. The richness implied in this dish's name is realized in Bistro Roca's rendition.

Both lunch and dinner menus offer several artisan pizzas. Having seen this team create delicious pizzas from incongruous ingredients during the competition, I would consider California-style pizza one of their specialties. On this visit, I tried a Roasted Vegetable Pizza ($9). The colors of grilled butternut and acorn squash, eggplant, carrots, asparagus, and mushrooms glowed from a bed of pesto. I added chevré (goat cheese, $2 - mozzarella and manchego are available, too), creating exceptional depth of flavor. These are baked in a partially open, wood-fired oven, visible from most seating areas. Watching these guys throw crusts is fun, too.

Two burgers are available for both meals. The B.R. Burger ($8.50) is served on a crusty, flavorful Kaiser roll. The patty is wide enough to cover the bun, pressed to about an inch thickness, seared outside, cooked through inside, revealing solid beef flavor. Vermont cheddar cheese is an excellent match. Fries (a salad is an alternative at no extra charge) are thin, crisp, and actually taste like potatoes.

Entrée prices include portions of both a Caesar and a house salad, both among the best I have encountered in area restaurants.

Crab and Crawfish Cakes ($17/one, $22/two) blend crabmeat and crawfish tail pieces with smoked gouda cheese incorporated into the cake with minimal breadcrumbs to hold things together. These flank a center of excellent white grits, with a small salad of mixed leaf lettuces and roasted corn alongside. A North Carolina Pork Loin Chop ($23) is seared expertly on the grill, revealing excellent natural pork flavor from a juicy interior. Fat is trimmed away precisely. The chop perches over braised collard greens and mashed potatoes.

Alongside, figs, which have been simmered with bourbon, honey, sherry, sage and fresh garlic, convey complex flavor of their own, which marries beautifully with the pork.

Seth Parker, who moved to the mountains after cooking in restaurants in the Outer Banks, and Scott Glascow, an ASU graduate who was one of the first enrollees at the new Johnson and Wales Culinary School in Charlotte, join Foreman in the kitchen. Restaurant partners are Cobb and Cindy Milner, who also own Gideon Ridge Inn.

This is a winning team. I left with one regret - that there were things on the menu I had not tried. Return visits will ameliorate that misgiving.

John Batchelor is a freelance contributor who has been reviewing restaurants for more than 20 years. You can reach him at P.O. Box 20848, Greensboro, NC 27420 or send e-mail to john.e.batchelor@gmail.com.