Hip yet comforting, the Station Bistro on Leary Way occupies an old gas station. Interesting design touches from the old days remain, like glass floor-to-ceiling doors that open when it's warm, and a rounded anteroom one end. The space offers a unique and pleasing experience akin to eating in a friend's house. While the room is bright with all the light coming in those big windows, the darkish colors, blackboard tables and recycled oddball furnishings create a purposefully funky and unpretentious atmosphere to enjoy an interesting cocktail or one of the small plates on their "everything is $9" menu.

The view opens to a wide street and a very big sky on a nice day. Blue plastic "Jetson's" chairs surround outdoor tables. While sitting outside feels a bit like sitting in a parking lot, it is an airy, if slightly noisy spot, with the adjacent Leary Way to remind you where you are.

The food preparation reflects careful attention to detail, a flair for colorful presentation, and a commitment to serving it hot. Our favorite was the daily special: a pair of gorgeous crawfish cakes, blackened crisp on the top and bottom and packed with tiny whole crawfish tails. These tender and fragrant cakes are generously sized, and while spicy enough to get our attention, they balance the punch with a moist and succulent interior. Accompanied with a traditional remoulade sauce, this dish evidences the advisability of trying the daily special (The Crawfish Cakes have since become a regular menu feature).

Ditto with the Tortilla Soup, also the soup of the day. If you've only had the pedestrian version of this soup, you've got to try this one. Again reflecting eager yet restrained spicing, the soup brims with fresh corn. Accompanied by a few tortilla chips, the brothy elixir takes on additional character and texture as it cools for a few minutes.

The hazelnut encrusted tilapia showcases the bright, mild fish that's showing up on so many menus these days, the thick and crunchy hazelnut casing providing the strong and muscular balance needed to counter the mild, almost catfish-like flavor of tilapia. In case you're wondering, the emergence of tilapia in stores and restaurants relates to their farm-friendly growth patterns, their mild flavor, and environmentally friendly production. Tilapia farming operations produce little pollution, with their primarily vegetarian diets.

The tilapia's accompanying vegetable medley of grilled cauliflower, green beans and zucchini deserves special note. The seared cauliflower, with its browned exterior, provides a slight crunch with a smoky flavor. This epitomizes the careful yet adventurous food treatment at the Station, allowing the chef creative flexibility.

Predictably loaded with an array of organic greens, the green salad gets tossed nicely in an unusually balsamic-heavy dressing, giving the vinegar-infused leaves a sweet and nutty taste. A delightfully smooth chicken pate filled out the meal, although was a little weird to get it last. We ordered several small plates and the server asked if she could just bring them out in the order they were ready. We said "sure," but didn't really expect to get our pate last. Next time we'll know!

The tabletops cleverly find new life for old high-school chalkboards, and while we applaud any attempt to reuse and recycle such gear, we found the gritty texture a little irritating, particularly as it made its way into our sleeves. Maybe a sealant would be in order? In fact, that was our one negative observation about the station, that it had a bit of grime and grittiness that undoubtedly comes from turning and old, oil-and gasoline soaked service station into a nice little bistro.

We chuckled at arty and efficient use of wall space for hanging chairs, and the sight of the chairs hung on pegs in a line up a wall, coupled with the slightly uneven floor and the tilting bench seat, gave us some spatial disorientation. One of our benches was uneven enough that one of us had to lean hard to one side to stay upright. After a couple of glasses of wine from their nicely priced and varied wine list, we no longer cared.

Another visit, for the cheese plate and drinks, was a nice way to spend a late afternoon hour. The rotating cheeses are a perfect mixture of creamy, tangy, sweet, sour and sharp. You feel like you're in the hands of professional cheese selectors.

The whole package end up feeling a little cinematic, like we were sitting on movie set of a back-lot somewhere, and we kept waiting for someone to call out "action!"

The Station Bistro

4910 Leary Ave N.W.

782-8466

Open Daily 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Patricia Devine and Jim Anderson may be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com