Photos by JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

The Bank Food and Drink in Pearisburg is housed in a former bank. The building was built in 1906.

Fava bean puree with seasonal veggies at The Bank.

We were on our way to Pearisburg, a pleasant country town tucked in the center of Giles County, when my husband, the driver, repeated how he couldn't believe we needed to go all this distance to review a pasta and pizza joint.

It will be special, I kept telling him, and it's probably not a joint. I had reviewed the previous restaurant located at The Bank four years ago that was headed up by Cunninghame West and his wife, who are now cooking in Houston. This new chef must create exceptional pasta and pizza. We'll try them and find out, I replied reassuringly.

Find out we did. For the two and a half hours we spent enjoying an early dinner at The Bank Food and Drink, we experienced dining that struck culinary high notes, each forkful transporting us on waves of delicious memories of our trips to Italy.

The two new chef/owners, husband and wife Giovanni Guarini and Nancy Jurek, elevate homemade pasta, locally raised trout and seasonal vegetables, as well as many other foods, to remarkable levels.

Meet the chefs

Before arriving in America in 2006, Giovanni Guarini owned a thriving restaurant and wine bar in Siena, Italy. He also taught cooking classes at an international school in Florence. His food roots are in Apulia in southern Italy, the area of his birth and the Mediterranean style of eating, and where the cooking is renowned for its freshness and flavor.

After settling in Blacksburg, Chef Guarini taught cooking and served as head chef at Fresh Palate while operating Sage Catering with his wife. (Both places are now closed. All the catering is done through The Bank Food and Drink.)

The chefs use only organic and local ingredients, which they believe deliver optimum flavor and nutrition.

When the opportunity to own The Bank Food and Drink presented itself, they decided to buy it in September 2009.

The vibe

I noted changes had been made to the layout of the foyer and first floor since I was last there as we were shown to a small, private dining alcove with walls decorated in funky art and nice landscapes by local artists that are for sale.

We ordered a bottle of Insolia, a Sicilian white wine ($19.50), from a wide-ranging list, and the first sip evoked thoughts of the Soave we enjoyed in Rome. With the friendliness typical of everyone we met in Pearisburg, our server introduced herself and explained the made-from-scratch philosophy of the chefs and the purity of the ingredients in the dishes. We needed time to decide on food of this importance.

The menu

Compact and adequately descriptive, the menu brings together the simplicity of preparation with incredibly fresh ingredients so characteristic of the Apulia region.

The vegan soup composed of organic barley and a wheatlike grain, farro, thickened with pureed chick peas, comes by the cup ($6) or bowl ($9). An organic garden salad created with the day's available ingredients, dressed with the house balsamic vinaigrette at $7.50 for a side or appetizer and $10.50 as an entree.

Locally raised house-smoked trout and strawberry (or beets, if freshly harvested), on a bed of greens, ($14.50-$18.50), comes dressed with goat cheese-lemon vinaigrette. Fava bean puree with seasonal veggies ($9.50 or $14.50) is based on a recipe from Giovanni's Nonna Sina.

A five-course dinner tasting menu consisting of soup, salad, two entrees and dessert selections, which the whole table decides on, comes without wines ($55) and with wines ($70).

Entrees begin with the veggie lasagne, five layers of delicate pasta separated by lightly grilled vegetables ($19.50), homemade ricotta, fresh mozzarella and a touch of tomatoes; made-to-order risotto with shiitake mushrooms and wild scallops ($24.50 per one person) or ($21.50 per two persons or more).

The list progresses to locally raised trout from Giles County Big Pine Trout Farm served with daily veggies ($32.50); fresh homemade pappardelle alla Bolognese, pasta with traditional Italian meat sauce of local, naturally raised beef ($22.50); and chicken with bell peppers en croute, a Southern Italian dish featuring organic chicken, fire-roasted peppers and basil rolled in thin layers of filo ($26.50). A gourmet cheese plate features a selection of four ($14.50) or six ($18.50) national and international cheeses as an appetizer, entree or dessert.

Homemade desserts composed of organic ingredients should not be passed up, no matter how stuffed you feel.

Semifreddo (which means "half-frozen") is an Italian custard dessert with a firm but still spoonable consistency. We also sampled a light, unusual rhubarb cream cake made that day because the garden produced rhubarb.

What I tried

I began my meal with an appetizer organic garden salad composed of lovely mixed lettuces combined with finely shaved beets and adorned with the house balsamic vinaigrette. My husband derived great pleasure in having two cups of the velvety barley and farro soup.

I love salads -- especially fresh greens intermingled with counterpoint ingredients such as this one, with smoked trout and strawberries adorned with a delightful lemon-goat cheese dressing. Two half-order nests of pappardelle alla Bolognese arrived picture-pretty on plates, and we made sure the pasta disappeared quickly.

My order of veggie lasagne followed. This lasagne, made with transparently thin dough, mingled lightly grilled vegetables with the flavors of fresh cheeses and tomato. My husband segued into a meaty fresh trout cooked deliciously in the style of picatta with capers, lemon and garlic.

We tried resisting dessert, but succumbed to the lure of semifreddo with the surprise of crunchy candied nuts hiding within its creaminess. This was the perfect ending to a flawless meal.

The wine list

The wine list offers a wide spectrum of fine wines from all over the world, but especially from Italy, to go with the cuisine. Prices begin at a moderate $18 level for a local Villa Appalaccia Pinot Grigio and Argentinian Torrontes and extend upward to $78 for Avvoltore, an Italian red, to $125 for some grand French wines.

The bottom line

The Bank Food and Drink is a comfortable, unpretentious restaurant serving outstanding, freshly prepared Mediterranean food. The uncluttered, straightforward preparations provide the opportunity to actually taste the integrity of the ingredients. It's all wonderful and I can't wait to return.

As for that pizza -- well, when all of the ingredients are available -- the dough, sauce, cheese, basil, and tomatoes, Giovanni is inspired to prepare his special Neapolitan pizza Margherita.