Caffe Dolce Vita
de Pasquali Square
Providence
by Bob Mariani
Caffe Dolce Vita bills itself as a "full service coffee shop and bar," which tells you it is not a place you’d normally go for a full-course meal. It is a hang-out where one can, on a summer evening for instance, observe the street life in the Plaza on Federal Hill as you nibble a biscotti and sip an espresso. The ambiance is not particularly Fellini-esque. There are a few black and white photos of Italian movie stars and of Federal Hill during another era, a small bar, a few tables, and storefront windows that look out on the Plaza where you can dine al fresco in the summer.It’s a great spot for a light lunch rendezvous for a panini, or a luscious dessert and espresso after dinner. However, one can enjoy a light supper at Caffe Dolce Vita, like the one we had the other night.
Not surprisingly, the menu leads with specialty drinks and desserts. Nothing is actually cooked here. It’s all paninis, brochettes and salads. My wife began with the Caffe’s Antipasto Italiano ($9.95), a classic assemblage of imported provolone and parmigiano, prosciutto sopressata and sausage, adorned with sweet roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes, pickled mushrooms, marinated hot peppers, green olives and a stuffed cherry pepper. This is definitely a meal-size portion and all the ingredients are fresh and delicious. With a small crock of minestrone soup, it was a pretty fulfilling meal.
I started with the soup too, along with the hot and sweet sopressata panini ($5 for the half size- $8.50 for the full). It came on a quarter of a loaf of nice crusty Italian bread that could have only been improved if it had been just slightly warmed. There were slices of provolone-- a rather mild version of what is often a pretty robust cheese. The meats were thinly sliced too, and delicious. Nothing you haven’t tasted before, but nicely prepared.
Other choices with a more American-ized twist, were an oven roasted turkey panini with Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomatoes and roasted peppers; a roast beef version with Swiss cheese and steak sauce; and Italian tuna with olives and onions. The bruschettes have most of the same ingredients as the paninis, but are presented warm on an open-faced sandwich and they range in price from $7.95 to $9.95.
And so it’s time for the desserts, which are what most people seem to come to the Caffe for, and understandably so. The gelato flavors s are vanilla bean, "cioccolato puro "(dark chocolate), and "nocciola" (hazlenut). You can order them plain or with accompaniments like profiteroles, crushed Oreo cookies, crushed canolli shells, a melted piece of peanut butter pie, or a chocolate brownie. Prices go from $3.95 for a couple of scoops to $8.50 for the more elaborate concoctions.
There’s an assortment of sorbettos, of course, and the Tartufo—sweet, Italian truffles with a variety of stuffings like the Tartufo Nero ($6), which I ordered. The two balls of imported chocolate gelato were covered with a smooth crust of white chocolate. (To my taste, Italian gelato is such a wonderfully light but intensely flavorful alternative to ice cream, I wonder why it’s not much more popular here in America. Why, for instance, are there so few supermarket brands available?)
The Caffe Dolce Vita is landmark on de Pasquali Plaza and deservedly so. It’s an ideal place to sit and contemplate "life, Italian Style," with the appropriate taste sensations to complete the experience. They’re open Monday through Thursday from 11am to 1am; Friday and Saturday from 11am to 2am; and Sunday from noon to 1am. Call 454-8826 or visit their
website.Bob Mariani is a Southeastern New England freelance author. Besides his "Your Table is Ready" restaurant reviews found here, he also writes jazz articles on allaboutjazz.com.
