BRASHER FALLS — A reader tipped us off to a new restaurant in Brasher Falls, a little town on Route 11C between Potsdam and Malone.

"I had a panini of roast chicken, roasted red pepper, provolone and fresh-made pesto, plus a cup of roasted fennel and celery soup. My friend had a panini with tomato, bacon, avocado and pepper jack cheese. The food was absolutely DElicious."

Ducci's opened about a month ago where the Chat and Nibble used to be, just down from the high school. What was a local greasy-spoon diner is now a cleaned-up, unassuming little restaurant serving upscale food.

Ducci is the nickname for 24-year-old Kyle Vesper, a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology's culinary program. While at RIT, Ducci cultivated his passion for cooking by working as an intern at several noteworthy Rochester restaurants.

He's back in his hometown now, cooking up food with a flair for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He believes in using fresh, local products and promises to introduce exciting new creations to his customers.

His dinner menu offers familiar favorites like meatloaf, mac and cheese and prime rib, alongside more exhilarating dishes like pecan-crusted tilapia, roasted Southwestern pork loin and pan-seared Applewood bacon-wrapped salmon.

Our evening began with a phenomenal sweet potato bisque ($3), thickened with its own starch and a little heavy cream. We detected an interesting spice flavor we thought was cumin. For me, a great soup-from-scratch at the start of a meal tells me that good things lie ahead.

The menu said Ducci's chicken strips ($5) were hand-breaded, as was his coconut shrimp ($6.50), so we gave these appetizers a try. They arrived at the table looking like they bubbled in the deep fryer a little too long — very dark brown.

We were expecting a Styrofoam-dry interior, but that wasn't the case. Both were moist on the inside, and the extra bob in the grease gave the breading a superior crunch. The blue cheese dipping sauce with the chicken certainly tasted homemade, as did the orange sauce that came with the nice-sized coconut shrimp.

The bruschetta ($4.50) was excellent. What appeared to be half of a crusty personal-size homemade roll was toasted and spread with basil pesto, layered with Ducci's fresh marinated tomatoes and topped with Parmesan cheese. This was bursting with fresh flavors.

Choice of soup or salad came with dinner. The other soup, vegetable beef, had a light-colored and -tasting broth, perhaps chicken stock. This allowed the taste of herbs like rosemary and thyme to please the palate.

Salads were great, with lots of field greens, julienned carrots, seeded and diced fresh tomatoes plus cucumber cut on the bias. Buttermilk ranch dressing was good. Roasted red pepper dressing was great.

Pan-seared pecan-crusted Tilapia ($11) was at the top of the entrée list, so we started there. Tilapia is a mild fish that has gained enormous popularity in recent years. Ducci did it up right, partnering it with a wild rice blend and a citrus butter cream sauce.

His commitment to local producers is evident with his Asian London broil ($12). The flank cut of Black Angus beef comes from Pat Kilcoyne's farm about a mile away. Kilcoyne beef has become a sought-after commodity in high-end restaurants around the state.

Ducci first marinates, then grills the meat, slices it and drapes it over shallot-mashed potatoes and finishes it with a sesame ginger demi-glace. Without our asking, it arrived at the table a beautiful medium-rare.

A table across the room clued us in to the grilled veggie stack ($8.50). A pile of grilled balsamic-laced portobello mushrooms, large-cut julienned zucchini and roasted red pepper was drizzled with a sweet roasted red pepper sauce and topped with shaved Gruyère cheese. This is a vegetarian dish even nonvegetarians will want to sink their teeth into.

From the pasta heading we chose hunter-style chicken ($10). Two small, tender breasts of chicken were sautéed with tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, thyme and spinach, then tossed with a sherry brown sauce and served over Ducci's fresh-made pasta of the day, linguine. It was very soupy, not quite what we expected, but the broth tasted fine anyway.

Desserts are made locally and averaged $2.50 each. We received large wedges of black raspberry and strawberry rhubarb pie. Both had nice, flaky crusts. We particularly liked the strawberry rhubarb. We asked for some whipped cream to jazz it up a little, and our waitress brought the pastry bag to our table and took care of that.

Particularly outstanding were the cannoli, made in-house by Ducci's uncle. They were smaller than usual, but you got two of the crisp cylindrical pasties (three would have filled the plate better), stuffed with a great sweet ricotta filling. Great plate painting, too.

We also tried an "Italian cake" that "just came off the truck today." Close your eyes and it kind of tasted like a bad carrot cake. We'll stick to the homemade stuff next time.

Dinner for four came to $82 before tip. Ducci has designs on getting a liquor license in the future, but there are no spirits available at this point.

Our server was friendly and knowledgeable, and is making a good transition from the previous diner menu. But there was a distracting amount of chatter and giggles from the wait staff when they were idle. This might be OK in a diner setting, but in a fine dining setting, there's no place for it.

Ducci's still has a diner look inside and out. But there's some magic happening in the kitchen that is going to turn some heads. And once the word gets out, this young chef is going to have a mighty fine following of north country foodies at his doorstep, be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

Ducci's

993 Route 11C

Brasher Falls

389-4060

Upscale dining in a diner setting. The food is a total surprise, prepared by an enthusiastic and experienced 24-year-old chef/proprietor.

HOURS: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily except Sunday, when they close at 2 p.m.

OUR PICKS: Ducci's bruschetta on a toasted homemade roll, sweet potato bisque, pecan-encrusted tilapia, grilled vegetable stack, Black Angus Asian London broil. Get the homemade cannoli or one of the locally made pies for dessert.

OUR FRIENDS tell us there are some excellent panini being served at lunch.

And for breakfast, Ducci will serve you one egg, if that's all you want, or creative omelets, including his shaved slow-roasted prime rib and cheese.

Rating: 4 forks