Sitting outdoors on a balmy tropical evening at a table on the bougainvilla-trimmed waterfront patio of a beautiful restaurant always makes me feel lucky.

Even luckier when I get to enjoy food prepared by one of South Florida’s best culinary performers, Rino Balzano — a chef with a grand sense of style — though luck has nothing to do with his cooking.

While Balzano is classically trained, it’s more about the way he delivers new tastes from the old world, served with sophisticated poise graced with the soul-warming scent of real people food. And, the way his menu lends itself to midweek dinners (a bowl of fabulous pasta e fagioli and pitch-perfect Caesar salad, perhaps), as much as it does artful preparations, like salt-crusted branzino — sea bass he flies in from Italy and worth its weight in air-freight charges.

These days, you can visit his newest location (he also owns and operates Rino’s Ristorante in Coral Springs), a long narrow sliver of a restaurant with a gorgeous waterfront patio — where he showcases Tuscan specialties. You’ll be in good hands — from the kitchen right down to servers with as much passion for the food as Balzano himself. The excellent wine list, about 500 selections, emphasizes super Tuscans, with unique offerings from Prosecco (Italy’s answer to sparkling wine) to rare boutiques.

For starters, every table is anchored with signature bread, a warm, garlic-studded oval puffed like a turtle shell from the intense heat of a wood-burning oven, and absolutely addictive. Dive into a salad next, especially the ones paired with fresh fruit ($8.50). The fantasia offers organic greens, gorgonzola cheese, yummy caramelized walnuts and crisp apple slices bound by gentle balsamic vinaigrette. Or, have arugula with pears and enjoy sweet pears against peppery arugula in a thin yet intense wash of extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon.

Half orders of pasta are available as appetizers — don’t miss house-made tortelli filled with amaretto-influenced velvety pumpkin puree ($9 half; $18 full). Or, have black lobster ravioli ($11 half; $22) in lobster cream sauce that satisfies yet pampers with delicate flavors. For an old-world taste, try pappardelle con lepre ($11 half; $22), wide pasta with shredded rabbit braised in red wine-enhanced tomato sauce.

Balzano’s food never stints on flavor, as proven by his fried calamari ($12.95). He starts out the usual way — tender rings immersed in light batter, flash fried until crisp. Then they’re tossed with tomato sauce, spicy cherry pepper rings, cherry tomatoes and greens. Or have an order of burrata ($18.95), heavenly fresh cow’s milk mozzarella imported from Italy — named for its buttery interior, made from mozzarella curds infused with cream, which oozes when cut open.

I applaud the chef’s production of salt-baked fish — done with imported branzino on this visit ($32). The cavity is strewn with aromatics (fresh sage, rosemary and garlic), and the whole fish encased in a thick paste made from kosher salt and white wine that forms a crust in which it bakes to absolute perfection in the wood-burning oven. Balzano does the tableside deboning, tapping the crust with a spoon to break into the most luscious fish you’ve ever eaten. A twist from the fresh pepper mill, a splash of fresh lemon juice, and it’s proudly handed over.

And, you’d be hard pressed to find better lamb chops around town. You get three perfectly grilled double thick chops with nice smoky flavors ($34) in a mesmerizing rosemary reduction that’s like liquid gold. Even the simplicity of daily preparations of sauteed veal scaloppine ($24) takes off into gourmet territory because of the veal quality Balzano purchases and his deft hand at combining sauce ingredients.

Your server probably won’t let you leave without trying a baked Bosc pear with the most divine chianti reduction ($10), but I also recommend zuccotto ($9), layered sponge cake, ice cream, ground almonds and hazelnuts enrobed in rich chocolate.

I’ve learned to expect the best from Balzano — a premier chef who has come up with as fine an addition to the Boulevard’s repertoire of restaurants as there could be.

Please phone in advance to confirm information on hours, prices, menu items and facilities. For review consideration, please fax a current menu that includes name and address of restaurant to 954-356-4386 or send to Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2293.

If you would like to contact dining correspondent Judith Stocks, e-mail her at judithstocksreviews@yahoo .com or write to her in care of the Sun-Sentinel.

**** (out of four stars)

Cuisine: Italian

1105 E. Las Olas Blvd.

Fort Lauderdale

954-766-8700

Cost: moderate to expensive

Credit cards: AE, MC, V

Hours: lunch Monday-Saturday, dinner nightly

Reservations: recommended

Bar: full service

Sound level: moderate

Smoking: outdoors only

Children’s facilities: high chairs

Wheelchair accessible: yes