Cafe Panini offers quality for low prices

Greer Wylder

When Corona del Mar’s Caffe Panini opened in 1995, it instantly

became an “in-spot” for the breakfast and lunch crowd. A few years

later, it was sold to local restaurateur Moe Ghazi.

He then redesigned the kitchen and spiced up the menu with

satisfying Mediterranean and Italian entrees. It resembles an upscale

European coffee shop. Ghazi’s involved with a corporation that

successfully runs “in-restaurants” with diverse cuisines. On South

Coast Highway in Laguna, there’s Mosun Sushi/Sake Bar and Club M, a

hip, multilevel sushi bar/night club with live music and dancing. For

the young partyers, there’s Momo’s Margarita Bar & Grill in

Huntington Beach at Main Street. Momo’s is a happening margarita/taco

bar with a nightly deejay.

Caffe Panini is calmer than its relatives. Its focus is good food.

Some restaurants skimp on quality ingredients for higher profits, but

not Caffe Panini.

Each day, the kitchen uses large amounts of high-grade extra

virgin olive oils, aged balsamic vinegar, fresh lemon and herbs.

Order a turkey sandwich, and it will have freshly roasted turkey,

never cold-cut slices. Salmon dishes are always from fresh filets.

Instead of common mayonnaise in sandwiches, it uses fresh pesto and

low-fat cheeses. It only serves Italy’s best coffee, Lavazza Bar.

(You can take home a bag of Lavazza’s whole bean coffee or espresso

beans for $25.95 for a 2.2 pound bag.) And at breakfast, guests go

crazy for the original French toast, made from Italian Pandora bread,

an uncommon specialty bread.

Breakfast is its busiest meal. Not always on the menu but worth

ordering is the smoked salmon egg white scramble with red onion, dill

and other fresh herbs ($8.95) Other delicious dishes are the No. 1 --

three eggs scrambled with spinach and Roma tomatoes ($6.95); and the

No. 3 -- two poached eggs on grilled filone (an Italian sourdough

with hard crust) with spinach ($6.95)

Other choices are omelets mixed with excellent ingredients such as

gouda, brie and smoked gouda; and artichoke hearts, Black Forest ham

or fresh basil and Roma tomatoes ($7.95).

At lunch there’s plenty of exceptional panini (Italian grilled

sandwiches) choices. Some are even served deli style with bread

that’s not grilled. They’re served with a choice of bow-tie pasta,

garlic rosemary potatoes or fresh fruit ($7.95 to $9.95). All paninis

are available as half-sandwiches at $1.50 less.

Its best-selling panini is referred to as No. 0: It’s oven-roasted

salmon, melted brie, capers and red onion on fresh focaccia ($9.95).

There’s also a variety of bruschettas and grilled pizzas and even a

great kids menu, with three choices of cheese pizza, salami and

turkey platter and grilled cheese panini ($5.95 to $6.95).

Most interesting selections are the Mediterranean-inspired dishes.

Many order the combination appetizer plate as an untraditional lunch.

It’s fresh hummus, garlic chopped eggplant, dolmada (grape leaves

stuffed with ground sirloin, rice, onion and spices) and Bulgarian

feta cheese with Kalamata olives, olive oil and oregano ($9.95). It

comes with a basket of pita bread

Try the Mediterranean salmon salad, for a healthy great lunch

($13.95). It’s the best salad on the menu, with oven-roasted salmon,

fresh mixed greens and cucumber, feta, Kalamata olives, red onion,

Roma tomatoes and fresh tarragon and lemon. All salads are made with

the freshest produce. For more protein, you can ask for chicken for

an additional $2.

Chances are with the large portions, dessert would be too much.

Yet you can’t go wrong with the surprisingly light tiramisu ($6.95).

There’s also banana bread pudding with French vanilla ice cream and

strawberry sauce($6.95); or cheesecake ($5.95).

Caffe Panini’s edge over other dining choices is that it’s one of

the few sit-down upscale cafes with reasonable prices. Improvements

are new grills and kitchen equipment for more choices in dinner

entrees. Heavy on faux wall treatments, there’s a cloudscape

decorating the ceiling and a generic Italian waterfront village

painted on the back wall. The gaudy chandelier, not far from the faux

copper patina ceiling fan are, thankfully, its only eyesores.

It serves Italian and Mediterranean cuisine at breakfast and lunch

seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. It has added dinner Thursday

through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. Catering is available. For easy

takeout or delivery, all dishes can be ordered online.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

[email protected]; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.