Visitors to Caputo’s by Night, the casual dining experience offered five evenings a week at Tony Caputo’s Market and Deli, will notice a recession-proof menu where many Italian entree items come in actually four or five dollars lower than their counterparts at a nationally known Italian restaurant that continued to pack patrons in during the worst phases of the recession.

The price comparison is interesting but not nearly as important as one might be led to believe.

There’s been a lot of media chatter about a new wave of frugality and references to “value” consumers but, as usual, few talking heads ever take the effort to explain what they mean by “value.” Take, for example, the following statements provided by the Hartman Group, a consumer research consulting film, which underscore the problem:

“At the end of the day, smart leading brands are engaging consumers in a new value conversation.”

“This newly conservative shopper demands solutions that help them feed, clothe and take care of their families based on a new definition of value.”

However, if you’re thinking that the fundamental value proposition has changed for consumers, guess again. Surveying a research-solid random sample of 1,000 consumers, the Hartman Group found that when it comes to evaluating a product or service for value, the most important attribute is that it works well or tastes good. More than 80 percent cited that aspect as their most important consideration. Price does not emerge as a benchmark until the sixth factor in consideration. Indeed, the performance of two firms would suggest just how wrong the conventional wisdom has been and just how compellingly realistic the Hartman numbers are. In the fourth quarter last year, WalMart’s same-store sales dropped 1.6 percent from the previous year. Whole Foods saw its same-store sales rise 2.5 percent in the same period.

And, as I was enjoying an immensely satisfying and comforting plate of pasta graced generously with soft sweet clam pieces in an olive-oil sauce, I realized that any conversations we should be having about value must always start and end with the issues of quality.

Caputo’s, with its rightly earned stripes as one of the top 10 food retailers as named by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, has artfully played its role in this conversation. And, it’s rightly timed as more consumers continue to shift gradually their shopping focus toward a more widely accessible range of fresh food products that are local, artisanal, and premium in every aspect of quality and value.

On any given day, the daytime deli operations at Caputo’s will serve more than 500 lunches and, I assume, as the weather improves and the evenings become more inviting for a casual dining experience, the nighttime dinner service will grow as it most certainly should. The menu features familiar classics such as Penne Arrabbiata and Chicken Parmigiano and guests can still get any of the sandwiches, with garnish and pasta salad for $8.95. Five different Italian classic pasta dishes come with soup or salad and grilled garlic bruschetta for $10.95. Hot dishes like Grilled Halibut Melograno start at $13.95 and come with pasta, soup or salad and grilled garlic bruschetta. There are a few appetizers, but these entrees are designed to be full hearty meals. The wine and beer list continues that right balance between price and quality with a pleasantly surprising range of diversity.

Consider the price as a pleasant little bonus. However, consider the first-class quality, which becomes visible in so many small and large ways during a dining experience at Caputo’s by Night. There always is the temptation to try and classify customers to fit particular designations, categories, and terms. Definitely, there is the satisfying sense of a well-prepared, wholesome meal. However, especially in an age where the restaurant and food market is crammed with confusing claims about freshness, authenticity, and organic products, there is also the awareness of Caputo’s genuine acknowledgement that even as consumers — who have many different motivations — might prefer lower prices, quality always leads the way with respect to value.