If all that mattered while dining out was the quality of the food, most of us would be eating take-out on the couch and saving ourselves the extra effort of finding socks that matched.

While menu caliber and execution are most important, ambience and service are also significant. If one or the other doesn't live up to customer expectations, even the savviest of kitchens can't make up the difference.

When I heard about the recent opening of Taella's Bistro, "an eclectic mix of Southern cuisine and a casual dining experience" in Midlothian, I was excited at the thought of digging into mouth-watering shrimp and grits surrounded by a cozy mix of Southern hospitality and kitschy décor.

The mouth-watering part I got. The coziness and genuine hospitality -- not so much.

Which is a shame, because Taella's kitchen knows the importance of quality ingredients. All crab is lump meat. Scallops are dry, meaning they haven't been saturated with preservatives to maintain shelf life. Even the grilled pork chop is White Marble Farms pork, which meets USDA standards for natural pork (no added hormones, preservatives, fillers or flavoring solutions).

During our Friday dinner, the noteworthiness of the kitchen's extra effort was diluted by lack of ambience and less-than-accommodating service.

Taella's dining area is divided into two spaces -- one cavern ous and harshly lit, the other cozier yet overwhelmed by the constant stream of activity coming in and out of the nearby kitchen and a flat-screen TV blaring above the bar.

After seating us in the smaller dining room, our hostess quickly disappeared, leaving us with menus but no drink list.

After a few moments, we flagged her down to request a wine list ($4.95-$8 a glass, $17-$38 a bottle). But when we asked about beer, she didn't know the options and suggested we walk over to the bar to see what was available.

After bringing our drinks, the hostess mentioned our waitress would be with us shortly. Meanwhile, another party was seated behind us, and the hostess directed the other available waiter to take care of them. Which he did -- rather efficiently, I might add (with a tinge of annoyance).

With our waitress nowhere to be found, the hostess returned to take our order -- fried pickles ($5), mozzarella ball ($7.95), crab cakes ($19.95) and pan-seared scallops ($17.95).

Our missing waitress eventually introduced herself by bringing our appetizers. Better late than never.

However, as soon as I popped the first fried pickle into my mouth, my irritation retreated. A perfect combination of vinegary tang, crispy, seasoned batter and creamy Ranch -- well, life doesn't get any better for this Southern girl.

The mozzarella ball -- really just a slab of mozzarella sprinkled with crab, avocado and drip of lemon vinaigrette -- was a letdown, except for the significance of featuring lump meat.

It was no surprise, then, that the crab cakes were quite good. Free-form in shape, they were the perfect combination of crisp crusts and moist, chunky centers. However, the cakes themselves lacked adequate seasoning, making us yearn for more red pepper and olive relish and aioli.

The scallops were textbook perfect, expertly seared and wisely accented by a subtle apricot puree that supplemented, rather than steamrolled, their natural sweetness.

Both entrees came with asparagus and pea-studded risotto. Both were satisfactory, but the sides took up a significantly larger portion of the plate than the main event.

Everything, including dessert, is homemade, so we ordered the "Big On Chocolate" cake ($5.95) to go. Described as "rich, decadent layer cake iced with a silky chocolate ganache," it was spot on. The cake itself was so moist it glistened, and the icing was so deadly creamy it had the texture of room-temperature butter.

When I re-read Taella's Web site after our meal, I noticed it said, "Our owner has been catering for more than five years." Catering and running a restaurant are two different enterprises, so perhaps Taella's just needs time to bring its service and ambience up to the speed of its quality fare. dcraig@timesdispatch.com.