If you’ve spent time in Half Moon Bay, you probably know Cetrella restaurant, a fixture on Main Street since 2001.

Now, its Mediterranean-Californian seafood dishes have been transported to the Peninsula with the debut of a new sister Cetrella — on Main Street again, but in downtown Los Altos.

The new restaurant, which opened in August, features an open kitchen, and a long dining room done up with a mural of tree-studded foothills. With a lot of hard surfaces, just note that the restaurant can get a little loud when it’s full, especially if there are larger parties around you.

The menus at both locations have been revamped with the arrival of new Executive Chef Mike Ellis, who spent many years in the kitchen of celeb Chef Charlie Palmer. Most notably, he was sous chef to then-Executive Chef Michael Voltaggio (winner of “Top Chef” Season Six) at Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg. When Voltaggio departed, Ellis took over as executive chef.

He’s developed a sophisticated, yet comfortably accessible menu to Los Altos, as I experienced a couple of weeks ago at dinner with two friends. Although we paid our tab, Ellis sent out a couple extra dishes he wanted us to try.

Since we were celebrating a friend’s birthday, a cocktail was definitely in order. The “Foothill Collins” ($13) put a festive touch on the evening with its blend of gin, lemon, simple syrup, fresh basil and muddled blueberries. The blueberry taste was fairly subtle with the botanical taste of the gin more prominent, which allowed the drink to be enjoyed throughout the meal without overwhelming everything else.

Fritto Misto ($14) is made for sharing, what with its heap of crisp, golden rock shrimp, romano beans, shishito and Jimmy Nardello peppers, picholine olives and blue lake beans. Dig in and every bite brings a tasty surprise to dip into creamy caper remoulade.

The restaurant smokes its own New Zealand-farmed Ora King salmon, and it’s a silky stunner, especially on pizza ($21). The crust, crispy in the center and bready on the edges, has a nice developed flavor. Along with the smoked salmon, the pizza is draped with Bellwether Farms crescenza, mozzarella, pickled red onions, fried capers, lemon zest and herbs. It’s all the good stuff that would go great on a bagel on a pizza instead.

“Happy Boy Farms Tomato Gazpacho” ($18) is not the expected chunky version. Instead, this one is pureed until smooth with a scoop of melon-basil sorbet afloat in it. A drizzle of grassy olive oil adds just the right amount of lushness while still keeping everything fresh and vibrant tasting.

“Grilled Marinated Spanish Octopus” ($18) is the restaurant’s best seller. The octopus is wonderfully meaty-tender with a kiss of smokiness and accompanied by creamy fingerling potatoes and a smooth avocado puree, as well as dollops of peppery romesco sauce. Be sure to squirt the charred lemon over everything. The grilling tames its acidity and brings out a mellow bitter citrus rind flavor that really brings all the components together.

“Snake River Farms American Kobe Beef Carpaccio” ($16) is a true cut above because the beef is so tender and marbled. Capers, horseradish, lemon, Pecorino, and a Dijon-Worcestershire aioli add punchy piquancy that helps lighten the dish on the palate.

Cetrella makes all its own pastas in-house — with the exception of the gluten-free variety. The latter is used in a luxurious version of linguini and clams ($18). Here, the clams are from Tomales Bay, and they’re bathed in a rich sauce fortified with Fort Bragg uni. This is a creamy pasta dish with a tickle of heat form chili flakes. You wouldn’t guess it’s gluten-free, either, as the long strands have a nice toothsome quality. There’s none of that gummy quality that mars so many gluten-free pastas.

An even more substantial dish is the “Whole Grain Mustard Papparadelle” ($26). Savory and hearty, these wide noodles are tossed with Colorado lamb braised until extremely tender with carrots and baby turnips. A little Greek yogurt adds a touch of tang.

“Vegetarian Risotto” ($20) comes enfolded with Iacopi Farms romano beans, cured lemon peel, Grana Padano and frisee. It’s garlickly, lemony, and substantial enough to please meat-eaters, too.

“Friuli-Venezia Squid-Ink Ravioli” ($23) is dramatic looking with its dark-gray pockets holding a tender filling of shrimp. Ceci beans rounded out the dish, along with strips of chewy-tender tripe that almost had the texture of yuba (tofu skins). It was finished with a big hit of fresh lemon dish. It’s an ambitious pasta, the likes of which you don’t always see in the ‘burbs, so I really appreciated seeing it on the menu.

After that load of lovely carbs, we shared one dessert — affogato ($9), espresso poured over cinnamon ice cream, alongside airy brioche beignets.

With its emphasis on locally-farmed ingredients, and its prowess not only in crafting hand-made pasta but in creating ones that go beyond the expected, Cetrella is a welcome addition to downtown Los Altos, which for too long has languished below the dining radar.

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And: Ambience