by MATHILDE RABBAT

Located in the city core for a decade now, Café Presto is one of the area’s best eateries - yet few who regularly pound the downtown pavement seem to have noticed. It’s a hidden treasure on Stanley (just north of René-Lévesque), nestled between a "gentleman’s club" and a couple of other little restos. The name of the place may conjure up images of stir sticks, lattés, and coffee talk, but that’s a far cry from the delights that await inside.

Simplicity seems to be this Italian joint’s motto, and is no doubt the reason for its 10-year success. Open for both lunch and dinner, Presto offers a limited selection of six or seven main-course dishes that vary daily. Limiting the selection in this way ensures that the food is freshly prepared and that the chefs stick to the specialities they cook best so that neither taste nor quality suffers.

Checkered vinyl-covered tables and mismatched little wooden chairs, with padded seat cushions just like you’d find in gran’s kitchen, definitely add to the warm feel of the place. A slightly eclectic mix of posters of Hollywood stars of old, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, hang amidst those of past Italian championship soccer teams, ceramic pasta bowls and maps of various regions of the home country.

Though main course dishes change daily, items such as the antipasto, green salad, herbal tea or coffee, soft drinks and dessert are standard. An endive leaf garnishes the light and refreshing small green salad ($1.75) with romaine lettuce, thinly sliced radishes and tomato, lightly sprinkled with wine vinegar and olive oil. Slices of ham, salami and capicollo topped with a few black olives and some marinated garden vegetables make up the appetizer. At only $5.75, the antipasto is the most expensive item on the menu.

All main dishes are also very affordably priced at $3.95 and typically include selections such as lasagna al pesto, canneloni rossini, gnocchi lombardia, penne arrabiata, linguini paradiso, and Italian sausage dishes. The menu, though limited, further tries to appeal to patrons who prefer either vegetarian or meat dishes, and to those who are in the mood for main courses accompanied by either tomato or cream-based sauces. The house red wine compliments any main course very nicely.

While you watch your food being carefully prepared in the tiny kitchen at the back of the resto through a big picture window, you can also enjoy old Italian favourites like "Santa Lucia" playing on a boom box propped up on the counter. Meanwhile, the service is both prompt and obliging. The resto’s owners, two Italian brothers from Milan, often make it a point of personally going through the menu with customers while providing a brief description of every item. They’re even accommodating enough to mix and match main courses with sauces that belong to other daily dishes. All of the courses have a home-cooked, wholesome look and taste to them. Of special note is the vegetarian lasagna with rosée sauce, which oozes a variety of vegetables, including carrots, zucchini, spinach and cauliflower - to name but a few.

After you’ve finished your main course, someone from Café Presto’s friendly staff will invite you to visit the dessert cart at the front of the establishment. Selections can include strawberries topped with cream, amaretto or chocolate cakes, tiramisu, and a very flavourful, crisp and fresh cannoli with a heavenly ricotta filling, which I highly recommend. After dessert, it’s time to settle up and drop a few coins in the tip bowl, at which point - first time diners beware - the owners ring a set of suspended cow bells by the cash register as their way of saying, "Grazie per la mancia!"

Café Presto
Address: 1244 Stanley (Peel metro)
Phone: 879-5877
Hours: Mon–Sat 11:30am–2:30pm & 4:30pm–9pm, closed Sundays
Best features: Fresh food with home-cooked feel,
cozy ambience, cow bells
Alcohol: Yes
Wheelchair access: Very narrow dining area, small step to bathroom
Vegetarian friendly: Yes
Credit cards: Cash only
Non-smoking section: Yes
Price: Full meal $20 per person including tax and tip
Rating: *** out of ****