A) It never was a stage stop. According to local history books, one part of the old building has been around since 1901, long after the stage coaches stopped running. Known in its early days as the Nippon Mura (Japanese Village) resort, it was the Blossom Trolley Line that ran by it, not stagecoaches.

B) It's not closing. Contrary to rumors that the present owners of the nearly 60-year-old restaurant have had enough, the truth is their lease is up for renewal in three years. Restaurant manager John Modiri says the landlords--Rosalie, Maryanne and Michael Morrison--haven't decided what they want to do yet. "When Villa Felice was closing some years back, we got lots of questions from people thinking it was us," he says with a chuckle. Now that the venerable Lou's Village on San Carlos Street in San Jose plans to close at the end of the year, more misinformation is being attributed to them, he says.

C) The food is not "continental." A clue is the new sign out front. It says La Hacienda Ristorante. Last summer, Modiri brought in Roberto Rodrigues, the former executive chef of Piatti's Restaurant in Palo Alto, as the chef de cuisine. Rodrigues has been revising the menu to include such Italian specialties as salmon alla Florentine with grilled polenta cake and sauteed spinach, and prawns al rosemiarino--prawns skewered on rosemary stalks with cherry tomatoes (both $19.95).

Under executive chef Jesus Murguia, a veteran of 25 years with La Hacienda who oversees a kitchen staff of 25, long-time customer favorites from the continental menu have been carried over to a Specialita Americane section of the menu. Entrees include Chilean sea bass, prime rib, filet mignon with Gorgonzola cheese, New York steak and duck alla orange (in the $20-$30 range). Entrees include antipasti. A prix-fixe, five-course seasonal dinner runs $35-$38.

"We recently invested $20,000 in new china and glassware and as much again in new décor," Modiri notes.

The new, pearl-white plates are designed for the fare they bear. For desserts, there are squares wide enough to allow for decorative chocolate or raspberry drizzles. Entrée plates are an expansive 12 inches. Deep, round dishes provide a generous well for the Dungeness crab, prawns, scallops and white fish that make up cioppino alla Hacienda ($22.95). Square dishes with rounded edges are reserved for the capellini, linguini and penne pastas and the revered house ravioli that for 35 years has been made daily from scratch by Angelo Contrara.

"In all, we have 20 dozen of about seven plates," Modiri says. They serve an average of 100 dinners a night.

Modiri has been at La Hacienda for 25 years. His face is familiar to hundreds of locals. But he claims proudly that his 18-year-old son Casey, a graduating senior at Westmont High School, probably dwarfs his local celebrity. Casey has been elected to this year's all-league teams for both basketball and football.

Modiri and his wife, the former Mary Callahan, have three children, all named for her Irish ancestry: Shea, 23, Kiely, 20, and Casey.

La Hacienda is located at 18840 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road (Highway 9) in Los Gatos. Dinner is served weekdays from 5 until 10 p.m., on Friday and Saturday from 5 until 10:30 p.m. and on Sundays from 3:30 until 9 p.m. Lunch is from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Sunday champagne brunch is served from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Call 408.354.6669. A special Fathers' Day brunch and dinner are planned for Sunday, June 19.