Welcome to Gigi Trattoria on a Saturday night. It operates as a “true Italian trattoria” - first come, first served for parties of less than six - so you might be in for a wait.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that there is ample reason to wait.

This outstanding new restaurant in downtown Rhinebeck Dutchess County, is the creation of chef-owner Gianni Scappin. He grew up working in his father Luigi’s trattoria in the Veneto region of Italy and in 1983 moved to Manhattan, where he served as executive chef at some of the city’s finest Italian restaurants, including Bice, Coco Pazzo, and Le Madri.

Soon after meeting Laura Pensiero in the kitchen of Le Madri in 1993, they married and began their search for the ideal restaurant location, first in Italy, then in Manhattan. They bought a Dutchess County farmhouse and fell in love with the area’s similarity to Veneto. Last year they opened Gigi (his father’s nickname) and had an instant hit on their hands.

THE WAIT FOR TABLES AT GIGI TRATTORIA IN RHINEBECK IS WELL WORTH IT

You’ll notice a cookbook on the bar or tucked into the window by your table. Cucina & Famiglia (William Morrow, $27.50) is co-authored by Scappin and Joan Tucci, mother of actor Stanley Tucci. Scappin helped him prepare for his role in Big Night, a wonderful movie about two Italian brothers who open a restaurant in 1950’s New Jersey. The chef is obsessed with serving authentic Italian food, but the restaurant is empty: the customers are all down the street, eating spaghetti and meatballs. Times have changed, and it is not the authentic Italian food that is packing them in. (Scappin calls it “Hudson Valley Mediterranean.”)

Full of sleek lines and Tuscan warmth, Gigi reflects Scappin’s European sensibility; it’s a rare menu, for instance, that opens with a full selection of cocktails, aperitifs, and Italian sodas. In the back is a list of 50 wines priced to sell - 15 Italian whites, reds, and sparkling wines that all go for $19, and six 1.5 liter bottles at $23. For those who want a little more complexity, there are “select classic wines” ranging in price from $22 for a Pinot Grigio to $110 for a Brunello di Montalcino Riserva.

There are a lot of ways to structure a meal at Gigi. You could eat very well by sharing a selection of salads, appetizers, and side dishes. The basket of breads (some are baked on premise) came with olive oil, served to each person individually, the way it’s supposed to be. It goes well with the selection of soft, semi-soft, and hard Italian cheeses ($9.75), and the excellent stuzzichini antipasto plate ($8), an unusual mix of small, sweet grilled onions; toasted almonds; Italian cured meats; pickled hot pepper; wax beans; and roasted red peppers, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes, all drizzled with olive oil and garnished with crostini. If chefs always did vegetables this well, people would be happy to eat them. Fried calamari ($9.50) and fresh mozzarella with roasted red pepper and red onions ($7.50) are other good starter possibilities.

There are four "skizzas" - pizzas made with a flatbread crust that tastes a little like matzoh. It’s so thin it flops from the weight of the ingredients if you try to eat it by hand. But on the basic “margherita” skizza ($8), the tomato sauce is fresh and the mozzarella plentiful and of good quality. Another winner is the fiaschetto - a side dish of white beans the size of spoons creamily blended with herbs and olive oil ($3.25). The Tuscan fries with herbs ($4.50) are hand-cut and made from good potatoes, but the night we were there the oil needed to be a touch hotter and they were under-salted.

Don’t miss the pastas: they shine. We tried two in appetizer portions, which seemed plenty large to me. The tortellini filled with butter squash ($9 appetizer/$14 entrée) were plump, flavorful, and exciting even simply tossed with butter and Parmesan cheese. The night’s special, homemade pappardelle ($11.25/$16.95), was perfectly cooked and served with dried cherry tomatoes, Parmesan, loads of fresh thyme, and a touch of hot red pepper flakes.

While the chef showed a deft hand with most of the regular menu items, he is not infallible, as we learned with the specials. The best was the fresh market fish - a crisply sauteed fillet of red snapper ($18.95) that was beautiful and perfectly done, though slightly at odds with a bed a of boiled, sliced Yukon gold potatoes in an olive oil-based dressing. The lamb shank ($16.95) braised in amarone, an intensely flavored Italian wine, was a little overcooked, though the accompanying polenta with cheese was creamy and wonderful - the ultimate comfort food. Risotto with shrimp ($13.25 a half-order, $18.95 full order) was bland and undercooked.

Desserts got us back on track. Two scoops of rich and creamy cappuccino gelato were rolled in a crust of coffee-flavored meringue for an interesting tartufo, or “bomb,” garnished with fresh whipped cream ($5.50). The chocolate mousse pyramid on a caramel base ($6.50) was pretty and had good flavor; the warm chocolate hazelnut cake ($5.50) was good, but not as intensely flavored as I would have liked. As you would expect, the espresso ($2.50) and cappuccino ($3.50) were good, and they came quickly.

The staff performed well under trying circumstances - a big crowd and narrow pathways between tables that are strictly single file. But they seemed like a happy crew, and so did all the customers, once seated.

We’re really very lucky that Scappin decided to live and work in the Hudson Valley. I’ll avoid Saturdays from now on (or carefully check show times at nearby Upstate Films), but I’m definitely going back.

Gigi Trattoria is located at 6422 Montgomery Street Rhinebeck. Appetizers range from $5.50 to $9.75, entrees from $12 to $25; desserts are $3.25-$6.50. Lunch is served noon-3p.m. Tues.-Sun.; dinner begins at 4:30 p.m.Tues.-Sun. Closed Mon. Reservations are accepted for parties of six or more. Take-out menu available. 845-876-1007.