Chef Matt Costello is aiming for a more accessible atmosphere at the Alexis Hotel's Library Bistro and Bookstore Bar.

AS A WRITER and a cook, I've always felt that food and words have a particular affinity for one another. I'd be hard-pressed to defend the position, but it seems that food does for the body what words do for the soul. So I was particularly pleased when the Alexis Hotel announced that the late, great Painted Table was to become the Library Bistro and Bookstore Bar. What made the announcement especially exciting, though, was the news that Matt Costello was to be the chef.

The cool and comely Costello, who served as lead chef for Tom Douglas at both the Dahlia Lounge and the Palace Kitchen, has an easy way about him that translates directly into friendly fare at the table. When he helped Douglas open the Palace Kitchen in 1996, the restaurant was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in America. The Dahlia also earned praise while Costello was running the kitchen. The guy clearly knows his way around a stove.

Born and raised in Iowa, Costello has been in Washington since he came here to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia more than 20 years ago. He was the first chairman of the Seattle chapter of the Chefs Collaborative, a national network of some 1,000 restaurateurs that promotes locally grown meat and produce. He cooks in a way that simultaneously reflects both his heartland childhood and the uber-hip style that defines Seattle's restaurant scene. His salads, for example, range from crisp wedges of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese-and-buttermilk dressing to roasted baby beets with watercress and horseradish vinaigrette.

Matt Costello's 'Traditional' Swiss Fondue

In fact, every section of the menu juxtaposes familiar-sounding favorites with innovative new dishes. It's as if someone pulled pages from "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook" and Jean-Georges Vongerichten's latest restaurant cookbook and re-collated them for fun. And it works — from a so-called "traditional" Swiss fondue for starters to the orange panna cotta and cookie plate for dessert.

In its previous incarnation as the Painted Table, the Alexis dining room had a series of skilled chefs: Jerry Traunfeld, who went on to rule the range at the Herbfarm, helped open the place. Emily Moore, who later gained accolades at the briefly shining jewel that was Theoz, also spent time there. So did Bruce Naftaly, who now owns and operates the incomparable and delightful Le Gourmand in Ballard. And just last year, the incredibly talented Tim Kelley made awesome things happen there. But somehow, the public never really latched on to what was happening. Perhaps the old motif was too elitist.

The new concept promises to satisfy the need for great food at one of Seattle's sweetest small hotels, but this time around it feels more accessible. With appetizers priced from $3 to $13 (most in the $6-to-$7 range) and entrees between $9 and $28, this comes closer to being a "library" for the public. Something about the new look of the place is decidedly more welcoming, too. Swank private booths that seemed overly formal in their original upholstery have donned a new faux lizard skin. Moldings are painted a cheerful true blue and the walls are warm-as-toast tangerine. Large, modern paintings that occupied the dining room's walls have been replaced with 10-foot-tall bookcases filled with hundreds of old books. Costello found them at a used bookstore in his Seward Park neighborhood.

In keeping with the book theme, the private dining room at the bistro is now called "The Reading Room," and once a season, private dinners there will celebrate authors. The Bookstore Bar also exploits the literary theme with drinks like Pulp Fiction (Finlandia Cran and grapefruit juice on the rocks) and The Librarian (a Peach Schnapps-spiked version of the Manhattan).

The whole book thing also makes a convenient tie-in to the hotel author's suite. I wanted to sneak a peak at it recently, but Amy Tan, who was in town for the premiere of a play based on "The Joy Luck Club," was already ensconced there. Local book clubs can win a chance to use the suite for their gatherings if they come up with the best essay on what their book club means to them.

Reading, relaxing, even writing — it's all nourished here.