John's Italian Cafe

John’s Italian Café 27 Baldwin St 416 596 8848

On occasion I like to dress up and dine in a very stylish restaurant. Most of the time I am happier to find a good local restaurant with superior food and low key ambiance. John’s Italian Café is situated on the trendy but informal Baldwin Street. It is only a few blocks filled with a variety of restaurants, boutiques and one quaint bed and breakfast. Every restaurant was packed on this glorious evening. It was fun to look outside and observe all the people on the packed patios across the road. I know we chose the best.

Fransi lives in my building. I hadn’t seen her for a while and was concerned. I was delighted to hear that this busy writer was doing well. We always enjoy dining out and have a perfect score for all the restaurants where we have dined. On this occasion we opted for Baldwin Street because Fransi does amazing volunteer work in the palliative care area of a local hospital. I admire her so much.

We met at an early hour as she was walking from the hospital. The patio was filled. Before too long the inside was also completely occupied. What a fun place. I have been told that the original store belonged to Mandel Eggs and Creamery. The Hebrew writing is still on the front window. The decor looks as if nothing has been modernized and we like it that way. Wooden chairs and tables, an old wooden floor and dark wood bar made me feel as if I had gone ‘back in the day’ when this was part of the Jewish market.

We both were delighted watching the food being presented to the other tables. One lucky patron ordered the Caprese Salad. It was really a work of art and almost too exquisite to eat.($7.50). Bocconcini cheese is placed on top of the fresh sliced tomatoes topped with fresh basil. Calameta olives and a secret dressing certainly must have made that diner happy. The Al Greco Salad also passed by me and I almost stopped the server to leave it at our table. Romaine lettuce, Feta cheese, Calamata olives, sliced tomatoes and red onions are tossed with a lemon oregano dressing.($6.50 sm; $7.50 lge) I laughed when Fransi stated that it looked like summer in a bowl. No wonder she is the writer. It was a perfect description for that colorful presentation.

Fransi ordered an Individual Pizza. The basic pizza was $9.00. Each added ingredient was a small extra charge. Her glorious pizza had capers, basil, green olives, black olives and mushrooms. I had to try a slice. Oh my! What flavor! There are so many ingredients available for a personal pizza. The menu pizzas sound amazing as well. Spinaci E Ricotta offers tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and red peppers. Three sizes are available. Patata al Greco tops a thin crispy crust with olive oil, feta cheese, garlic, oregano, fresh tomatoes. Green lives, spinach, potato and onions.

Pasta was calling out to me on this occasion. Linguini Pomodoro was my excellent choice. Classic linguini is served with green and red peppers, eggplant, zucchini, onions and mushrooms with a light tomato sauce. ($13.95) It was absolutely divine and I truly wiped the plate. It was one of the tastiest pastas I have ever enjoyed. Linguini di Mari offers scallops, jumbo shrimp, mussels, and squid in a rose sauce with leeks, shallots and peppers.($17.95)

Gnocci Pesto offers those melt in your mouth pieces of stuffed pasta in a pesto cream sauce with baby spinach and roasted red peppers.($14.95) Run, don’t walk for a delicious treat.