LIVERMORE – Husband-and-wife team have designed the Carriage House Cafe on Route 4 to offer a casual, elegant dining atmosphere.

Soft classical or jazz music, sometimes Frank Sinatra, is apt to play in the background. On this day, it was Beethoven.

Plum lace curtains adorn the windows to match the plum table cloths beneath glass-covered tables. Artistically folded pink, cloth napkins rest on the plates.

The building itself is new. It was built to replace the old carriage house that was destroyed by fire. The adjacent house, said to be part of the underground railroad during the Civil War, was saved.

Christine Wilkes-Weaver, owner of the restaurant, supervises the wait staff on her time away from her job as a surgical coordinator at Central Maine Eye Care in Lewiston.

Her husband, Michael Weaver, a chef with 16 years experience, including work at Eastland Hotel, banquet manager at Verrillo’s and chef at the Seeds of Peace Camp, is in charge of the kitchen and offers an array of international cuisine.

“We wanted our own business and with Michael being a chef, it was perfect,” Christine Wilkes-Weaver said.

The menu includes baked stuffed haddock, pesto tomato pasta, lobster Alfredo, chicken cordon bleu, shrimp scampi, veal marsala scallopini, baked stuffed pork loin and house steak. Prime rib is served every weekend.

From the stockpot are French onion soup, homemade seafood chowder and rocky coast lobster stew and soup of the day.

When Weaver enters the dining area he dons a white chef coat with black piping to meet his customers.

Diners have the options of eating in the dining room or on the patio, weather permitting, where views of the mountains and Brettuns Pond can be seen.

Michael Weaver has done most of the work on the restaurant himself. He’s nearly finished with a banquet room upstairs that also has a deck off it. The couple also offers catering.

The Carriage House opened in December 2003 and has steadily built a customer base.

Red Hat societies often visit as do many local residents. Pictures of guests hang in the foyer. Weaver said he places an emphasis on service.

“Service is the first thing,” he said. “The food can be wonderful, but service is our first impression.”

The couple say they have worked hard to be unique.

“We didn’t want to be like anyone because then we’re just average,” Weaver said. “We’re far from average.”

There is a dessert cart, wine sold by the glass or bottle and a full bar. Waitresses wear tuxedo shirts with black bow ties and black skirts. There are seven employees besides the Weavers.