Modern life has surrounded the old house at 725 North Market Street in Waterloo, but the building and its surrounding lot retain the charm of the 19th century.

Most recently, the property was home to the Waterloo Winery. The farm dates to at least 1818, but the building that houses the main body of the restaurant called JFires' looks to be late 1800s, a lovely brick farmhouse that was probably appended to an earlier building. An old barn forms a boundary of a large patio space at the rear of the house. Soaring old-growth trees frame the front and sides.

The property is owned by the Pensoneau family; Jennifer Pensoneau is in the kitchen with executive chef John Sewell. Pensoneau met Sewell in culinary school in Louisiana, so the menu at JFires' has quite a bit of Cajun influence, although it also draws from many other styles the two chefs picked up in their international travels.

That wandering style transfers into the structure of the menu, which meanders from wood-fired individual pizzas to three bread-based dishes; a short, specifically Cajun section; and a mixture of permanent and seasonal entrees, with a special or two thrown in nightly.

An appetizer of veggie fries ($4) illustrated the overall appeal of the restaurant. Served in a paper-lined wire cone, the dish showed the unexpected allure of fries made from rutabaga, carrots and parsnips, each with its own inherent degree of sweetness. That sweetness was enhanced by a maple-syrup brining, and a tempura batter was just enough for a crust without intruding upon the vegetable flavors.

Potato bread fondue ($8) was also a basic but enjoyable appetizer, featuring melted raclette in a hollowed-out dome of potato bread with grapes and apples for dipping. A couple of the grapes were in less-than-pristine shape, but the apples were crisp and sweet and, in tearing down the bread bowl, the appetizer easily stretched to two people.

Both of these appetizers reflected a general trend of creativity combined with affordability that continues through almost all of JFires' menu. Mussels, however, were on the high side at $12 for about a dozen in an appetizer order. It's a clever dish, with hints of anise provided by a pastis addition to the broth, and lots of tomatoes and frizzled green onions scattered about the mussels for both flavor and visual appeal.

The wood-fired pizzas returned to the quality-and-value theme, $7 buying an oblong pizza with medium-fluffy crust and a crisp bottom served on a marble slab. Whether from the quick-firing and high temperature or because they were added later, the tomatoes on our chicken and smoked gouda pizza kept their body and had a wonderful, full flavor.

A barbecued shrimp entree ($12) was a generous serving of a dozen large shrimp, their heads left on in a rustic Cajun style, yielding very firm and moist shrimp when decapitated. The tangy Worcestershire sauce differed from my expectations, which would have been for a drenching of heavily garlicked butter, but it still complemented the shrimp well, with a stack of crispy onion rings topping off the dish.

And with traditional wood-fired barbecue aromas emanating from the back patio, we were enticed to try the cochon de lait ($16), served here as a scored rectangle of pork to be pulled into shreds by the diner. Underneath was a bed of potato salad, and the whole thing came across as a summer picnic dish, the pork mildly smoky and embedded with a subtle range of spice flavors.

The dessert list includes some out-of-the-ordinary stuff like cheesecake made with the honey liqueur Bärenjäger ($6) and light crepes stuffed with in-season fruit ($4).

A short wine list keeps with the value-pricing of the rest of the menu, with most bottles about $20, and a nice nod to local vineyards by offering several Illinois selections.

Freshly made fruit and vegetable juices add an interesting beverage alternative.

A few too many flies made it into the dining area while we were there but, otherwise, the various rooms — including a two-story main dining room with a mezzanine — made for a lovely historic interior.

JFires' will easily get you through the door because of its curb appeal, but it will probably bring you back with its combination of quality and value.