But, as with a night at the theatre, the atmosphere is just as important. You want to feel just a little cosseted.

Well, we waited 50 minutes for curtain up, the arrival of the first course at Pachino's, the newish Italian on Chesterfield Road, Sheffield, the other night.

We could sip our wine but there was not even a bowl of olives or a breadstick to keep those hunger pangs at bay.

It wasn't as if owner Rebecca Westland didn't have time. There was only one other table in that night but she did seem to be on the phone an awful lot.

Pachino's, named after a small town in Sicily famous for its tomatoes, opened late last summer. You can't miss the floodlit restaurant, next to the Bohemian, but be careful of the too-high step.

Inside it's minimal decor with white walls, exposed chimney breasts and slightly chilly with overloud music.

What attracted us was the enterprising menu. There are not too many trattorias in Sheffield serving up homemade ricotta or pigeon on buttered asparagus so we thought we'd give it a go.

Sadly, we chose the wrong night. Not only was Pachino's short of atmosphere but chef Trevor Bailey, a likable lad, was short of ingredients – so the chicken, Tiger prawns and mussels were off.

It would have helped if Rebecca had told us that when she handed out the menus instead of when she came to take our order.
The pigeon (£6.95) was pretty good, two still pinkish reasonably tender breasts on thick asparagus stacked like Jenga bricks.

My wife had gone for the home made chicken liver paté with a miniature date and walnut loaf (£6.95) which sounded tempting.

It was a disaster.

The paté was in a little pot, bright pink and runny. It had never set nor, when I dipped in a finger, had it been seasoned or brandied. It tasted what it looked like – goo.

And there was no loaf, just toast dusted with icing sugar (no kidding) with walnuts scattered over it. The good news is we weren't charged for it.

We liked our main courses. My swordfish (£9.55) with caramelised (more scorched) lemons was a tasty, accurately cooked and juicy steak swimming in a simple sage butter sauce.

And my wife was reassured by her homely and comfortable dish of home made veal and pork meatballs with pasta (£8.50). Trevor cooks them in the sauce rather than fry them off first so they remain soft.

In honour of Trevor's home produced ricotta (he coagulates it with lemon and lets it drip slowly through muslin) we ordered a side dish of piselli e pancette, peas with pancetta and finished with ricotta.
Sadly, as well as running out of chicken, prawns and mussels, the kitchen had also run out of peas, what you might think to be this dish's essential ingredient. It was replaced with asparagus, which was also in the excellent little side dish of vegetables and had accompanied the pigeon.

We weren't charged for that either.

For Trevor, who gained a love of Italian food from working at Nonnas and La Scala, it had not been a good week after recovering from illness. So we were not entirely surprised to find the almond tart and ice cream were also off the menu but we were offered a zabaglione (£4.95), a frothy concoction of eggs and wine. Few Italian restaurants will do this because it takes so long. We could hear Trevor whisking and whisking and whisking, but I should imagine from the taste the kitchen was also short of Marsala.

Our bill, with two glasses of wine and decent coffee, came to £40.65, with two of the dishes knocked off the account.

We did catch Pachino's on a bad night but there's a lot more to opening and running a restaurant than you think. And it's only when you don't get it right that people notice.

Pachino's, 51 Chesterfield Road, Sheffield. 0114 258 4466.
Open Tues-Sat 6-late. Licensed. No disabled access (ramp coming) or disabled toilet (but the Bohemian will oblige). Cash or cheques only. Street parking.

My star ratings (out of five):
Food 3
Atmosphere 2
Service 2
Value 3
Italian restaurant category. Do not compare ratings between places of different style or price.