Twelve years ago, when I first moved to Maine to take a job at Colby College, I received many helpful handouts, including a sheet of paper from my new employer listing Waterville-area restaurants. McDonald's and Wendy's were mentioned with no apparent sense of irony.

This hardly seemed like good news, but locals assured me there were finds to be had, if I searched them out.

"I tried [Restaurant X] this weekend," another newcomer told me one day.

"How was it?" I asked hopefully.

"It was vile."

Well, in Waterville the times, they are a-changin'. A number of good places have cropped up in recent years, and now there's the innovative Apollo's Bistro, where chef Sean Doherty is producing meals that rival the best of what you might find in Portland - or New York, for that matter.

Some restaurants are a place to grab a nice meal before a movie, and some restaurants are an event in and of themselves. Apollo's Bistro is clearly the latter. On a recent night, friends and I stepped up a long staircase to the second floor of the large Victorian home in which Apollo's Bistro is located. Off the landing were several pretty rooms with white-linened tables and brown walls adorned with dramatic gold drapes. We shared everything we ordered, as we chatted about how my friend's daughter used to play dolls in the room that bordered the one in which we were sitting. In the not-too-distant past, the restaurant was a single-family home owned by a local physician.

We started with a smoky split-pea soup (featuring pork the chef had smoked himself); a delicious green salad topped with pomegranate seeds and a sweet passion fruit vinaigrette; and a crisp but light crab cake, around which pooled a bright-green cilantro-lime mayonnaise.

If you ask chef Sean Doherty what kind of food he serves, he'll say he "has a huge respect for tradition" or that he's "post-fusion" or even that he's 'not frightened of molecular gastronomy and changing textures of food." In the end, he means that he's eager to combine the flavors and textures of different cuisines to create a visually appealing plate that offers an intriguing, if not altogether expected, balance of tastes.

Our main courses were evidence of Doherty's success. The richness of a hanger steak served with earthy mushroom bread pudding was offset with fresh asparagus. A lemony sole was served atop a creamy spinach-crab risotto and accompanied by simple steamed carrots. The desserts were similarly composed: a light lavender crème brûlée with the classic burnt-sugar finish came with buttery shortbread cookies. A dense chocolate-walnut torte was served with a surprisingly tasty beet gelato and crystallized blood-orange peel.

Doherty clearly knows food, but he also knows Waterville. His culinary ideas are grounded in the products he can get locally, and his culinary forays are related to his understanding of the Waterville clientele, which he sees as becoming increasingly sophisticated since the early nineties, when he tried - unsuccessfully - to serve arugula at the Waterville Country Club. On a recent night at Apollo's, he offered a dry-aged short loin steak, a main course that sold out even though it was priced at a whopping $46. (Main courses otherwise run from $18-$24.)

Doherty is a local talent, as is Keli Kenyon, Apollo's Bistro's owner. They both grew up in Waterville, and their families were friends. Over the years, the duo kept in touch as Kenyon, with the encouragement of friend and investor Kevin Joseph, realized her dream of opening a restaurant. Meanwhile, Doherty played guitar in bands and worked in restaurants in Florida, Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. Later, he earned a degree from Atlantic Culinary Academy’s Le Cordon Bleu program.

Kenyon seems particularly proud that Apollo's reflects her tastes while being an "unstuffy" place to visit. Some of the communal feel may stem from the bistro being very much a family affair, located as it is above Apollo's Day Spa, where Kenyon's mother and many of her eight siblings work. On any given night, one sister may stop by to help with the dishes, while a brother may be delivering root vegetables from his organic farm.

"I wanted my restaurant to be different than anything else in town," Kenyon says - and it is, especially given Doherty's experimentation.

"It's all about keeping it fun," Doherty says. "Keeping it fun and keeping it challenging." Challenging for the chef, that is. For the diner willing to pay for an unusual and creative dinner, it's all too easy to enjoy Apollo's Bistro.

Apollo's Bistro, at 91 Silver St. in Waterville, is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday year-round from 6 - 11 p.m. First courses $4-$11, main courses $18-$24, desserts $5-$8. Not handicap accessible. Reservations suggested. 207-872-8736. apollosalonspa.com/html/the_bistro.html