Osvaldo Tomatis is a celebrity chef of sorts. He was the executive in charge of food services at Pixar Animation Studios during the filming of the hit film "Ratatouille." His kitchen was used to film many scenes, with the images of line cooks translated into animation.

Tomatis had been the executive chef at Il Fornaio in San Francisco when Apple's Steve Jobs, who was CEO of Pixar at the time, recruited him to take over on-site food services at the studio's high-tech digs in Emeryville.

Tomatis is now the chef at La Strada in downtown Palo Alto. He is a native of Turin (Torino), in Italy's food-conscious Piedmont (Piemonte) region. There his family owned both a farm, where he was exposed to produce and livestock, and a restaurant, where he began working at age 14.

By age 18, he was eager to make his own mark on the culinary world and relocated to Redwood City to live with an uncle. He started cooking part-time and worked his way up with stints in the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest.

Tomatis took over the helm at La Strada four months ago, reshaping the menu and infusing new life into the five-year-old restaurant. He replaced chef Donato Scotti, who recently opened his own restaurant in Redwood City.

"My menu is traditional Italian but with local produce. I am market-sensitive, and use what is seasonal at farmers markets," Tomatis said. "The menu will adjust seasonally." The food at La Strada is less Americanized than the fare at most of our local Italian restaurants, and far tastier.

Physically, the restaurant is both contemporary and functional. The kitchen and wood-burning brick oven line one side while zesty shades of mustard- and ochre-colored walls add a spacious feel to the two dining rooms. There is a small enclosed patio for year-round semi-al fresco dining.

At a recent meal, the focaccia was house-made and came with an ice-cold tomato tapenade. Too bad the tapenade wasn't served at room temperature, because the flavors were locked in, leaving the paste nearly flavorless.

The antipasti were all first-rate, though. Crostone was warm porcini mushrooms, radicchio and fontina cheese layered over grilled ciabatta bread ($9). A meal in itself: fresh, earthy, flavorful and pretty on the plate.

Maialetto e lenticchie ($12) was the tenderest crispy suckling pig belly imaginable. The pork had been slow-cooked but remained juicy and luscious. Umbrian lentils shored up the generous slab of meat.

A half-dozen thin-crusted pizzas were on the menu, all of which sounded terrific. I settled for the Sicilian tuna with caramelized onions, mozzarella cheese and olives ($14) and wasn't disappointed. The crust alone would have made a credible flatbread. It was the same dough used to make the focaccia. The combination of the tuna, olives, caramelized onions and cheese was almost like eating a warm crusty Nicoise salad.

The pastas were uncommonly good. I loved the house-made black olive spaghetti with Niman Ranch lamb cheeks (jowls), fava beans and pecorino cheese ($16). The perfumed pasta was a pale lavender color speckled with flecks of black olive. The lamb was fork-tender and the fava beans added chewiness, while the cheese supplied a note of sharpness.

The paccheri pasta ($15) with heady lamb ragu, creamy ricotta and sharp pecorino cheese was irresistible, rustic and elemental. Ragu refers to a meat-based sauce, in this case with tomato, and the paccheri were large, hollow, tube-shaped pasta.

Another favorite was the casonsei alla Bergamasca sausage ravioli ($15) made with a splash of amaretto, and brown butter and guanciale — pig jowls this time. The ravioli were stuffed and wrapped with pork; the dish played like a symphony of bacon. The meat had a resonant note of sweetness and the butter added creaminess. It was good enough to mop up with that last piece of focaccia.

The marinated and grilled veal rib-eye ($24) was mellow and yielding and delicately flavored, with the meat milky-rose and tender as butter. Roasted asparagus and eggplant contributed slightly more acid tones while a dash of Aceto Balsamico added sweetness. Aceto Balsamico is the original balsamic, aged at least 12 years, mellow and syrupy.

Whole branzino, a Mediterranean sea bass, was offered two ways — grilled or oven-roasted ($25). My dining partner opted for the grilled version, which came with roasted potatoes and arugula salad.

When the fish dish was brought to the table, the waitress asked if my companion wanted it boned. Of course, but rather than boning it at the table, she took it back to the kitchen. By the time it returned, the potatoes were ice-cold. Also, I waited to eat until we were both served and my food was barely warm by then. There has to be a better way.

The wine list is fairly priced and offers practical selections from both California and Italy. The wines of Piedmont were, happily, much in evidence: Barolos, Barbarescos and Barberas along with Tuscan, Umbrian and Sicilian wines. Prices range from the low $30s to $200-plus, with most wines under $100. Corkage fee is $15.

Chef Tomatis has charged new life into La Strada, but he is more star-maker than star. The dishes on his plates are the real stars of the show.