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Hours: Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; Dinner: Mon.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5-11 p.m.Appetizers $6-$9, Entrees $17-$31

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www.visionsbethesda.com

Chef Tony Marciante says it best on his restaurant’s ‘‘blog” when he describes the ongoing lunchtime panini contest between himself and co-owner and co-chef Iddi Diarra. His words — ‘‘It’s not that complicated, and all in good fun” — could easily be about Visions, their cozy and welcoming new restaurant that occupies a long narrow slice of St. Elmo Avenue in Bethesda. Even the LED readout on the electric heater in the front door says, ‘‘HI.”

Perched on stools at the bar, we sat next to a couple of appetizer crawlers. Two friends who were spending the evening working their way down a short list of new restaurants, walking in without reservations, looking for the opportunity to sit at the bar, order most of the appetizers and hobnob with the bartender. Since the bar juts out from the kitchen, the food was delivered by Chef Tony himself, who happily engaged them and us in conversation.

Turns out he and his partner Iddi worked in a number of restaurants and boldly took the leap to open their own self-proclaimed Modern American Bistro. The menu may target a similar taste as a Houston’s or a McCormick & Schmick’s, but the language is more playful, and the food, more intimate and hand crafted. The house potatoes are ‘‘smashed,” an exclamation point appears after the word RARE to emphasize how the tuna must be served, and the short-hand abbreviation XVOO is used for extra virgin olive oil.

Unlike the large franchises, the two chefs proclaim a pride in fresh ingredients, adjusting the menu to the season. It is a joy to watch good cooks make the food you eat, and this is the case at Visions since most of the food is prepared by one of the two chefs, and the small kitchen is in full view of most of the front dining room and bar.

Our dinner included a masterfully rolled and fried crawfish egg roll that is worthy of the better than adequate Thai peanut dipping sauce that accompanied it. The trio of soups sported really cool bowls, each one was very good by itself, and they complimented each other as a ‘‘flight” of soup. The beef short ribs appetizer was slightly tough and wanted something a little more interesting than straight teriyaki as a dipping sauce. The crispy calamari had its own nifty swirled iron basket and was accompanied by a zippy aioli. And I envied the filet mignon satay that was delivered to my neighbor.

Of the entrees, the catfish was clearly cooked by a hand practiced at southern cuisine. The marinara sauce in the signature dish, Dad’s Pasta with Crab Tomato Sauce, was superb with plenty of crab. The plate would have been content with half the pasta.

A cheerful eagerness is built into the laid-back presentation, an affability that extends to the quirky and personal Web site. This is a place where it is appropriate for the chefs to wander around the dining room and chat with guests. A rambunctious party occupied the back room of about 45 seats, but was remote from the rest of the dining area.

The atmosphere of dim light, pendant lamps, unstarched white table clothes and a little too much Sade on the stereo makes it feel crowd friendly, unfussy — jeans are perfectly acceptable — and simple rather than dazzling or sophisticated.

It’s the kind of place that takes the edge off a first date or makes it worth getting a babysitter just to spend an hour kicking back with a few appetizers at the bar and talking to the guys who cook the food and own the place.