We're not surprised that the food at Fire Restaurant and Bar is something to savor.The chef of this upscale bistro in Marana is Jason Jonilonis, whose local résumé includes The Grill at Hacienda del Sol, Westward Look Resort's Gold Room and, most recently, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.Fire opened Feb. 16 and was immediately deluged with customers, many of whom were in town for the Match Play golf championship at nearby Dove Mountain.The modern décor with healthy amounts of rattan and trendy lighting makes Fire look like a classier version of a model restaurant showcasing products from Pier 1 Imports.What came out of the kitchen was almost beyond reproach.It's not all about the kitchen, however. The service was spotty and occasionally uninformed. Our first course arrived before our iced teas. Refills were difficult to come by. When bread was brought to the table, we asked what kind it was. The busboy replied, "Um, bread," and didn't offer to find out.The herbed focaccia and sliced french baguette came with two dipping sauces. Jonilonis, who owns Fire along with four partners, created the pesto sauce with cilantro, toasted pumpkin seeds, Parmesan, garlic, black pepper and olive oil. The other was a quite service-able olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping.Many details delighted us. When I dropped a fork, the server swooped over to replace it. Our chopped salad thoughtfully was split for us on two plates. And other questions posed to the server were answered, or she found them out.Described as regional comfort food, Fire's menu focuses on Italian dishes with occasional non-Italian surprises like tortilla soup.But what a tortilla soup ($6) it was. Served in a sort of do-it-yourself style, the sides of guacamole, queso fresco, a lime wedge and blue and yellow tortilla strips allowed you to add as much as you want to the fire-roasted chunky soup. The soup stood just fine on its own, but the added accouterments made this a starter to remember among the sea of Tucson tortilla soups.The Sonoran shrimp cocktail ($10) yielded five jumbo grilled shrimp dusted in chile garlic marinade and perched on the edge of a red-swirled Mexican margarita glass. Nestled in lettuce leaves, the smooth cocktail sauce paired well with the juicy shrimp.Try the grilled vegetable piadine ($11) for a healthy and substantial starter. Slices of tender-crisp squash, zucchini, asparagus, onion, tomato and red and yellow peppers are blended with a citrus vinaigrette.The piadine, or crispy flatbread, cupped the vegetables in the dish. Brushed with cilantro pesto and Parmesan cheese and baked in the pizza oven, we could have had 10 of them.If you sit outside at one of the dozen or so tables, you'll hear unplugged versions of hit songs via Sirius Satellite Radio. Live entertainment is planned for weekends, and from 7 to 9 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month, the Desert Bluegrass Association holds a bluegrass jam outside.Back to the impeccable kitchen. We didn't go wrong with any of the dishes we sampled.Take the braised Angus beef short rib and blue cheese pizza ($13).Toppings loaded the eight-piece, rectangular-shaped pie. You first notice the chunks of cremini mushrooms, and later the fresh blue cheese peeking out from under the mozzarella. The caramelized onions lent a sweetness that paired nicely with the simply seasoned shredded beef and butter-braised mushrooms. Each pizza comes brushed with Fire's house pesto and tomato and chile sauce.The organic tomato and mozzarella ($6) was another solid first course. Slices of firm house-made mozzarella and yellow and red tomatoes were surrounded by drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A mound of fresh basil sat in the plate's center.The melange of quality greens, sliced avocados, halved grape tomatoes, green onions and savory house-made croutons in the Fire house chopped salad ($7.50) were dressed in a sublime reduced balsamic blue cheese vinaigrette and topped with a baked Parmesan cheese crisp.The range chicken parmesan ($13 for lunch; $18 for dinner) was big enough to share. Two large chicken breasts were pan-sautéed and topped with a hearty, chunky marinara-style sauce. Big leaves of creamed spinach with bits of roasted green chiles, Parmesan, garlic and a bit of heavy cream were paired with risotto that tasted richer and more complex with every bite.It seems that you can't order fettuccine alfredo ($16) without someone snidely calling it "a heart attack on a plate," but Fire's version would cause nothing more than a heart murmur.A modest portion of al dente fettuccine was draped in a lighter-than-average alfredo sauce that possessed all of the flavor but less of the entree's traditional heaviness. More than a dozen medium-size shrimp were in the mix, adding to the HDL, or "good," cholesterol.With its cremini mushrooms, shredded beef and caramelized onions, the flavors of the braised beef gnocchi ($16) worked almost perfectly. The dish features no sauce per se, and the truffle oil and chives didn't give the chewy pillows of gnocchi enough moistness.We were quite full, but the espresso chocolate decadence cake ($7), with its fresh berries and two pieces of fudgey goodness, was impossible to resist. A bonus: The leftovers are just as tasty the next day.But if you only have one dessert in you, check out the tres leches crème brûlée ($6), which arrived in a large, shallow dish perfect for sharing. Instead of heavy cream, three milks — evaporated, condensed and whole — are used.Garnished with fresh strawberries, sliced blackberries, honey-roasted black pepper pineapple and topped with a crunchy-but-melt-in-your-mouth coconut tuile, the dessert was an oh-so-creamy delight.It actually wouldn't be a bad thing to add a separate dessert dish of coconut tuiles to the menu — they're that good.Check, Please