The original building, tucked behind a bank on Village Lane, had been vacant since volunteers of Eastfield Ming Quong served their last homemade luncheon in what they called Village House more than eight years ago.

The transformation delighted some of the townsfolk, who were invited by the owners, chef David Kinch and manager Aimee Herbert, to share wine and hors d'oeuvres at a sneak preview of architect Jim Zack's makeover. What once was quaint cottage charm is now casual sophistication.

"It's absolutely fabulous," raves Los Gatan Beverly Rouse, who founded the Village House with a dozen other women in 1967. "The kitchen is triple the size of what ours was, and so high-tech. And we were terribly impressed with the chef. He's a darling," she adds with a smile.

Kinch and Herbert, owners of Saratoga's Sent Sovi restaurant for the past seven years, have been weathering the usual delays and last-minute changes attending the construction of their 68-seat restaurant.

His days have been spent in the kitchen, working with up to 12 assistants. Hers have been at the front of the house, grooming a waitstaff of 20 servers and "runners," described by one observer as "legs, feet and hands with a smile"--all in anticipation of the formal opening, which finally happened last week on July 17. The restaurant is the realization of the pair's shared vision.

The cuisine is European with a Spanish emphasis; Manresa is the name of an ancient town outside Barcelona. There is an emphasis on fruits in Kinch's desserts, like the seasonal soufflé of caramel, passionfruit, chocolate and grapefruit; roasted apricots with garden thyme; warm flan cake and an apricot vanilla milkshake; and Bing cherry clafoutis (fresh fruit topped with butter); dried cherry and almond strudel; and almond ice cream.

The menu follows the "grazing" trend common among the more avant-garde group of restaurants that cater to diners not wanting one large entree. Kinch's signature tasting menu, which he developed with Herbert during their years at Sent Sovi, is seasonal and spontaneous, priced at $95. Pairings with appropriate wines are an additional $65.

Three-, four- and five-course options are priced at $54, $65 and $75, respectively.

Diners may also choose from a rotating list of dishes not categorized in the traditional way.

Some menu highlights are the spinach and dandelion salad with roasted beets in citrus yogurt and quail egg "in a hole"; buttermilk-fried frog legs with chicken wings in an herb jus with sweet garlic puree; or the rare amberjack fish roasted with fresh bay leaves and served with Swiss chard with raisins and pinenuts and roasted meat jus. A good starter for $22 might be the Caspian osetra caviar beggar's purse, which Kinch describes simply as a caviar "bomb" wrapped in a crêpe.

Kinch grew up in New Orleans, graduated from Johnson and Wales Culinary Academy in Rhode Island in 1981, and went on to work in San Francisco's Silks restaurant, New York City's Quilted Giraffe and three renowned restaurants in Germany, France and Spain. He rounded out his career prior to opening Sent Sovi in 1995 with a two-year stint as San Francisco's only American-born chef in the venerable Ernie's Restaurant.

Herbert, a Michigan native, served as manager for two years at San Francisco's Brasserie Savoy and for nearly three years as manager, bartender and hostess in the city's La Folie before joining Kinch in opening Sent Sovi.