Even if Italian food isn’t your usual thing, Cafe Cafe warrants a look. The waitstaff are easy and eager to please, and their extensive knowledge, from the antipasti to the gelati, heightens the anticipation like good culinary foreplay.

If you wish to begin with a salad, the usual offerings of house greens and Caesar salads can be ordered as entrées or appetizers. For a larger affair, try the hydroponic arugula salad, or dip into the bibb and beet, a mixture of seasoned walnuts, beets and gorgonzola dressing over a bed of living bibb lettuce. On the main course side of things, classic offerings such as linguini and clams—available in white or red sauce with parsley and Parmesan cheese—meet more exciting fare such as a grilled beef tenderloin with sweet summer squash and pungent Parmesan garlic fries.

Hopefully, you saved room for dessert because your waiter will be back to paint a verbal portrait of the rotating assortment of house-made treats.