As I climb the stairs to the Bartlett Pear Inn’s front porch, the door opens even before I can knock. Coats are smoothly whisked away to a cloakroom. Cocktails are proffered as I wait for the rest of my dining companions in the lounge, where a rousing fire burns in the marble fireplace. Greetings are warm, genuine; smiles are wide.

“Your comfort and enjoyment are our greatest pleasure,” reads the restaurant’s menu, and even before I’m seated in a pillow-strewn banquette in the inn’s snug dining room, I’m ready to believe this.

It’s no secret that the restaurant had large shoes to fill when it opened in the former Inn at Easton space in September 2009, but judging from only one visit, the staff here is doing its utmost and gracious best to fill them. And perhaps they do so well because natives Jordan and Alice Lloyd, chef and innkeeper, respectively, know Easton and know what locals and visitors want in a restaurant.

Jordan’s bistro-influenced menu is compact and reflects an emphasis on local ingredients and house-made components that feels nearly mandatory in new restaurants. The whole roasted shrimp in the saffron-pistachio risotto are from Marvesta Shrimp Farms in Dorchester County. The lavash cracker in the tuna tartare appetizer, the server tells us, is made in-house, as are the brandied cherries that garnish cocktails.

Obviously, the Maine lobster in my lobster bisque is from elsewhere, but that doesn’t prevent me from inhaling the sweet, tarragon-infused soup, which is rich and unctuous without being over the top. The small lobster cake that floats like an island in a sea of creamy broth is a welcome treat. In another appetizer, a subtle, savory cream sauce, made golden with saffron and Dijon mustard, complements fat and briny mussels. 

Entrees are slightly less satisfying. The seared duck magret breast is plump and well-prepared, but the small portion and modest sides of roasted fingerlings and haricots verts do little to justify its $34 price tag. A cooked-to-order flatiron steak ordered a la carte looks like more of a bargain at $19 until you add $6 steakhouse sides of addictive french fries and creamed spinach. And while short ribs braised in red wine are presented prettily on the plate with a sprinkle of pearl onions and small teardrop-shaped cuts of golden rutabaga and pale turnip, the meat errs on the side of fatty.

If you love chocolate, however, make sure to order the chocolate soufflé for dessert. It arrives piping hot with a side of brilliant green basil infused crème anglaise our server spooned into the warm, melting center. Our table was split about the aesthetic effect, but agreed that the sauce added more color than nuance.

As a new restaurant, the Bartlett Pear Inn could use a few small tweaks. The food shows promise, but menu prices could be lowered slightly, and tables in the dining room could be rearranged to be less claustrophobic (or maybe they could just remove a few pillows from the banquettes). But service is right where it should be. I have no doubt the rest will follow.

Mary K. Zajac writes from Baltimore.