For those of us who have been familiar with Tofanelli's but have not dined there recently, you might want to take a serious look at it again. Look closely, as almost everything has changed for the better.

You will immediately notice the beautiful redesign work on the interior, from the oversized vintage art posters, to the bold yellow walls blending in with the original brick, to the newly upholstered chairs and tiled floor. For other ambiance selections, you can dine on their outside patio or the enclosed (covered) garden patio.

The menu changes seasonally to reflect available ingredients and seasonal eating styles. You might want to run in and catch the spring menu, which will soon change to the summer menu. For the remainder of the month their featured ingredients are morels, ramps and garlic. What's a morel or a ramp? You'll have to experience them for yourself.

We just missed out on their green garlic soup with chive creme fraiche. Doesn't that sound too good to pass up? Toff's goal is to buy as many locally grown ingredients as possible to provide the freshest flavor and support the local economy at the same time.

On a monthly basis, they feature their version of a Winemakers Dinner. For June 25, they will feature a Bonny Doon series, and we have seen their five-course menu. Seating almost always sells out, and you should start dialing to make reservations now. Priced at $60 per person, this includes tax and gratuity.

We were so impressed by our dinner that we came right back for brunch the next day with our kids.

When we list all of the items that we ordered and devoured, you might imagine that there was an army of us eating. Think again, it was just Fran, Steve and Fran's mom.

While we will admit to several take-home containers, our plates were quite bare upon our departure.

For appetizers we shared crab cakes with red pepper aioli and mango salsa. We must comment immediately that these were the best crab cakes ever and that the finely diced mango was sensational.

We then quickly moved on to the roasted garlic and warm brie with grilled Italian bread. We loved freeing those little garlic pieces from their cloves and spreading them on the brie. We are still tasting it now. One of the soup selections was their version of New England clam chowder, and it would make New England proud.

For our dinner selections we shared the following:

Pan-seared chicken stuffed with a rosemary-green garlic ricotta served with heirloom butterscotch calypso beans and sauteed ramp greens.

Pan-seared Maple Leaf duck breast with lavender honey and port-soaked mission- dried figs served with a warm wild rice farro and currant salad.

Lobster and asparagus ravioli with a spring vegetable ragout in a lemon-chive cream sauce topped with a white truffle oil.

Grilled flat-iron steak with caramelized shallots and herb compound butter, zinfandel demi roasted fingerling potato and haricot verts.

They have a lovely selection of salads such as their farm salad with mission-dried figs, candied walnuts, Sonoma goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.

Their dessert selection is plentiful and all priced at $5 each. Selections include a blueberry grand marnier creme brulee, chocolate-kahlua cheesecake, strawberry-apple cobbler and chocolate ice cream truffle with raspberry sauce.

Toff's has a separate children's menu and all items are very reasonably priced. They have the necessary box of crayons and the menu to color on, which can be a life-saver for the parents.

They take great pride in their wine offerings and believe that good wine is an important element to a great meal. They try to offer most bottles at $10-$20 per bottle and change the wine selection monthly to introduce customers to a wide variety of exciting, lesser known wines.

For our brunch on Sunday, we continued to order with the same fervor as the night before.

For simplicity's sake, the following is another list of our fare.

Turkey guadalajara with smoked turkey, ortega chile and pepper jack cheese on grilled sourdough with cranberry sauce, and a side caesar salad.

Smoked salmon lox with herbed cream cheese and capers on a lightly toasted baguette with a side of fresh fruit.

Banana pancakes with tasted walnuts and slice bananas.

Eggs benedict with one-half of smoked ham and the other with avocado covered in a hollandaise sauce.

We absolutely loved our dining weekend at Tofanelli's and are sure you will, as well.

Sensational food, artfully prepared, reasonably priced and graciously served. They even have their own parking lot. What more can you ask for?

Steve and Fran Lantz of Grass Valley love to eat out. Contact them c/o The Union, 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.