"It took me this long to get it approved by my boss," joked Liu, pointing to his wife May, who has equal say about the menu. "I had to convince her that the dish would sell."

So far, so good.

As Yiu set down a bowl of his fresh clams, a curious customer from a neighboring table came to her feet and leaned forward to have a better look — and smell — of the dish.

Apparently, she was impressed, given that she eventually ordered the clams for lunch.

Sauteed in wine and placed atop a bed of garlic spaghetti, the Manila clams ($10.95) are then lightly dipped in a light chardonnay sauce.

"The difficulty with clams is that they have to be fresh," May said. "And that's the reason why I was hesitant to put them on the menu."

But since Kit was willing to go to Chinatown every other day to pick up the fresh clams, May gave her OK.

"It's summer and clams seem to be a perfect dish for this season," Kit said. "It's a refreshing entree that isn't too heavy."

Also falling in this light-and-satisfying category is the new grilled shrimp pesto salad ($6.95), which comes with tiny dollops of Ranch dressing on the mixed salad leaves.

For a little more zing, the spicy Italian sausage appetizer ($4.95) will have the spice-sensitive gulping down water. As a suggestion, order a loaf of jumbo pillow toast ($5.75), which will help tame the sausage's habanero and green chile flavors, while also helping to sop up the surrounding puddle of spicy marinara sauce.

The Yius have added four other house-special entrees, including the Sicilian-style spicy clams ($10.95), basil salmon ($10.95), lemon chicken ($13.95) and veal scaloppine ($13.95), served with a choice of mushroom tomato or mushroom cream sauce.

"We try to offer seasonal dishes to keep the menu fresh," Kit said. "We'll try the items on our regular guests first. And if they like them, we'll go with them."

Using their guests as taste testers has always been helpful to the Yius, who've relied on their input ever since they opened this Moilili restaurant four years ago.

"We have a lot of regulars," Kit said. "One of them even taught me how to golf."

And many of them have influenced Kit when he came up with his red wine oxtail stew ($10.95), which still garners oohs and aahs.

The restaurant's pizzas receive the same attention. The paper-thin crust, nine-inch pies can be made with five different sauces: white ($3.95), tomato ($3.95), pesto ($5.50), ground beef ($5.50) or meat ($5.50).