Review: Caffe Classico

The flank steak entree at Caffe Classico. (Credit: Matt Stone)

Lingering at Caffé Classico on a wintry morning, I was struck by the fact that the restaurant exudes warm cheer even on dreary, drizzly days.

Light spilled in through the windows that face Frankfort Avenue, bounced off the bright hardwood floors, pitched up against the pale yellow walls, gathered strength from the red carnations perched on my table and then came to rest on the gleaming curve of the bar, where it reflected nothing but calm goodwill.

I drank a cappuccino topped with a luxurious pillow of foam ($3.25). I nibbled at chunks of tender chicken and kernels of rice that floated in a cup of steaming broth ($3.50). And I took my time over a tuna sandwich inflected with ginger-infused mayonnaise that leant it a spicy Asian air ($8).

Since it opened in 2003, Caffé Classico has been a superb spot for soups, salads and sandwiches, such as curried chicken salad or the grilled panini made with mozzarella, tomato, fresh basil and spinach.

Last year, the restaurant expanded the menu to include dinner service Wednesday through Saturday. It’s a brief dinner menu, just a handful of entrees, a few pizzas and a short selection of salads and appetizers (as well as sandwiches). But if brevity is the soul of wit, it’s also one of the keys to culinary excellence. Certainly it’s better to do a few things extremely well than to muddle about with a long bill of mediocre fare.

And Caffé Classico certainly does things extremely well. Service is exemplary: The staff is knowledgeable about the menu and the wine list, enthusiastic about the quality of the fare and alert to the needs of diners. Dinners follow a leisurely pace, owing to the fact that everything is made to order — right down to the diced tomatoes for the salad you just ordered.

But the wait is well justified by the quality of the food. For Lyonnaise salad ($7), the kitchen builds a lacy framework of green and white frisee lettuce, adds a splash of color with bright red diced tomatoes, slips a crouton of grilled bread into the center, and adds a judicious portion of bacon-herb dressing.

Then they crown the dish with an egg — baked, according to the menu, though it looked fried to me, right down to the crisp brown edge that ringed the white. When you pierce the egg with your fork, it breaks apart, releasing the warm, yellow yolk to create an intensely pleasing dish.

Flank steak is grilled to perfection (at least when ordered medium rare), then sliced and draped over rustic, chunky mashed potatoes. A discreet, quietly effective reduction of red wine and diced shallots adds just enough juice and flavor to provoke the tongue’s interest, but never interferes with the tender, beefy flavor of the meat. A few green spears of grilled asparagus and a grilled tomato bursting with juice give the plate a jaunty look.

More impressive still is the look of garlic shrimp and linguine — plump shrimp arrayed in a circle atop pasta. The sauce is an oh-so-delicate, but oh-so-delightful blend of white wine, garlic and butter; the pasta is colored up with leaves of green spinach and bits of bright red tomato. The crunch of toasted pine nuts complements the perfectly tender shrimp. And the rim of the bowl is generously sprinkled with reggiano, allowing a diner to add a perfectly customized dash of salty, nutty cheese.

 Many of the desserts come from the very fine Cake Flour bakery, but in-house desserts are formidable as well — witness a meltingly soft chocolate tart that tasted like the best fudge in the world — a deep, rich chocolate flavor with just a hint of sweetness.

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