Mac and cheese with a twist

Once a staple of diner and children's menus, macaroni and cheese has grown up. Fine dining establishments have added luxe ingredients, from porcini and fontina Val D'Aosta to pancetta and black truffles, to turn out decidedly adult editions of this comfort food classic. We sampled versions with truffle oil and lobster, both delicious but culinary overkill. Macaroni and cheese is rich enough without these embellishments. Two alternative takes employed ingredients that are less rarified but better balanced.

You'd expect a restaurant with the words "comfort food" in its name to have mastered mac and cheese, and Zon's serves up a textbook version with farfalle, farmhouse cheddar, fontina, and just a touch of whole grain mustard. The twist is an optional seasonal vegetable (in the spring, English pea puree and olive oil-dressed pea tendrils; currently, edamame) that adds a complementary crunch.

An even less exotic but equally successful addition is crust, the foundation of the Mac 'n Cheese Pizza at 'Za, an Arlington pizzeria known for combining unlikely ingredients seamlessly. On paper, the concept sounds like a carb sandwich, but the nicely blended, lightly creamy sauce with four cheeses, caramelized onions, and a topping of toasted bread crumbs is a surprisingly savvy creation.

Za scores bonus points for its successful fusion of two major food groups. But even beneath its creative vegetable embellishments, the mac and cheese at Zon's, all puffed up like a soufflé in its individual casserole, is the cookbook classic of our dreams.

Advantage, Zon's.

TRY IT TONIGHT Macaroni and cheese with edamame (left), $15

Zon's Comfort Food, 2 Perkins St., Jamaica Plain. 617-524-9667. www.zonsjp.com

JUST TRY IT, ALREADY Mac 'n' Cheese 10-inch pizza, $9.50

Za, 138 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington. 781-316-3224. www.zarestaurant.com