Little things matter. The light in the dining room. The spacing of the tables. Whether the butter that comes with the bread is brick-hard or creamy smooth. Whether the consomme is crystal clear or cloudy. Whether silverware is replaced. And whether everything from the center of the plate out is perfect. These little things add up. One thing off and the meal is still good. Two, it's probably still fine. But when everything comes together, when the service is flawless and the food tasty and well-presented, a meal goes from satisfying to memorable. I had such a meal recently at Richardson's Canal House on a rainy October evening.

Under the ownership of Austrian-born restaurateur Johannes Mueller since November 2002, Richardson's is the beneficiary of its owner's 30-plus years of experience in the restaurant industry. Trained in Germany, Mueller spent the first part of his career traveling Europe and the world working in hotels, restaurants, and even cruise ships, honing his management skills. He brought that experience with him to Rochester in 1986, and since then he has either worked at or owned some of the biggest names in this area's restaurant firmament, including Rio Bamba and Rooney's. Mueller is a shrewd judge of talent, and some true culinary rising stars have worked in his kitchens, including Keith Myers (now owner of the Flour City Bread Company) and his current executive chef Matthew Hudson. Together, Mueller and Hudson make magic - with a little help from Mueller's mom.

In the late fall every year, Richardson's offers a special Oktoberfest menu - something Mueller has done since he owned Rooney's and sponsored biannual "Austrian weeks" featuring guest chefs and special menus highlighting Austria's cuisine. Since Mueller's move to Bushnell's Basin, the guest chefs have dropped away, the special menu is offered only in October, and there's been one more important change. Instead of recipes derived from several different chefs, Mueller's mother often comes over from Austria to visit and give the kitchen staff what he describes as a "refresher" course in Austrian food around Mueller's kitchen table.

On a particularly chilly evening with rain lashing the windows and a fire shimmering in the grate, I started off a long and indulgent meal with a simple bowl of beef consomme with herbed crepes ($6). The broth was crystal clear but intensely beefy, delivering a potent and pleasing combination of salty and sweet. The crepes, which had clearly been slid into the soup just as it left the kitchen, soaked up almost no broth, remaining delightfully firm, herbaceous, and toothsome. It's worth pointing out that this is quite a trick: introducing a starch to a hot broth almost always clouds the soup unless it is done extremely carefully.

I followed that with a foray into the regular menu, ordering a plate of spaghetti squash carbonara ($8). I'm a fan of both spaghetti squash and bacon, so mixing the two together seemed like an inspired idea. The combination of creamy eggs, cheese, and thick chunks of smoky bacon paired remarkably well with the squash, which added just the right amount of moisture to the dish to keep it creamy and delectably rich (too often carbonara turns into scrambled eggs and spaghetti with bacon because lesser cooks fail to master the temperamental interaction of heat and eggs).

Our entrees took us from Italy back to Austria: goulash ($22) and sauerbraten ($21). Goulash has gotten a bad name over the years. How many of us associate it with that foul staple of cafeteria lunches across the nation? Austrian goulash is an entirely different dish: beef braised in a gravy of paprika, garlic, black pepper, and potatoes, often served over freshly made spaetzle. It is as rich and complex as its American cousin is insipid and one-dimensional. Matt Hudson's interpretation of Mother Mueller's recipe is superlative comfort food. The humble chuck roast is braised until it melts, enriching the thick broth around it while also allowing the spices to penetrate the meat to the point that even the interior has that distinctive paprika hue and savor. Served with a small bowl of white cabbage salad - shredded cabbage and bits of crispy rendered speck in a tangy dressing - the combination of flavors and textures is a joy to play with and admits of almost infinite variations.

At first glance, the sauerbraten was simply overwhelming. The plate was covered with slices of slow-braised brisket dressed with a raisin sauce alongside a huge pile of pickled red cabbage (distant and superior cousin of sauerkraut) and three potato croquettes that were perfectly identical. The dish was an exegesis on the beneficial interaction of fruit, vinegar, meat, and long, slow roasting - the very definition of sweet and sour. By the end of the meal, when only the tiniest bit of beef and none of the cabbage or potatoes remained, I was forced to admit that the portion was just right, and unfortunately not enough for lunch the next day.

Center-of-the-plate items at Richardson's are amazing, but so is the stuff on the periphery. The breads that come out before drinks or appetizers, produced by pastry chef Anne Marie Williamson, are almost a meal in themselves. A simple herb bread with a pretzel-like crust and a cake-like interior was my favorite, but others at the table fell in love with a crusty sourdough loaf studded with cheese and herbs. The sturdy and flavorful wild rice enriched with pecans supporting a whole duck-leg confit changed my view of wild rice forever. The smooth, creamy baba ganoush underneath a medium-rare lamb sirloin was so nicely spiced that bites of meat seemed naked without it. And even the vegetable sides, which amount to colorful tasteless garnishes at other restaurants, were delectable here. Everything was cooked just-so to bring out the best in flavor and texture. Little things make a huge difference.

To find Richardson's Canal House in City Newspaper's online Restaurant Guide - including a map, user reviews, and more - click here.

Richardson's Canal House

1474 Marsh Road, Pittsford

(585) 248-5000, richardsonscanalhouse.net

Lunch: Tue-Fri 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Dinner: Mon-Sat 5-10 p.m.