Journal photo / Sandor Bodo
AT CAFE LUNA dishes include roasted chicken breast with roasted tomatoes, sweet onions and gorgonzola sauce.

Good bistro food in neighborly surroundings

By MERIDITH FORD
Journal Restaurant Critic

• See the menu.

CRANSTON -- Cafe Luna's artsy, bohemian feel and welcoming atmosphere give it the aura of the quintessential neighborhood bistro. Yet this wonderfully cozy local haunt, thriving for 14 years, is smack in the middle of Garden City Center -- nestled between the corporate storefronts of Banana Republic and Appleby's.

The twinkling lights adorning the bistro's windows are alluring on a cold, blustery night. Inside, the ample space has been played with to make up for the lack of any real architectural flourishes.

Amid walls that have been painted warm hues of yellow and avocado green, the small, closely spaced tables are all either marble or inlaid marble surrounded by wood, which on first impression made me feel as if I was in an ice cream parlor.

Little touches from co-owner Diane Vincent, such as carefully placed pottery and framed kudos from a string of local publications, soften the harshness of a big service refrigerator planted to one side and a deli case that separates dining from the service area. Co-owner Donna Ventilato was chef-owner of Panache years ago (it resided where XO Cafe now sits on Providence's North Main Street). Maria Napolitano is head chef.

The menu is a what's what of traditional bistro fare, pronounced most effectively with a nightly specials menu that boasts everything from tilapia to roasted chicken. Most, excluding the pasta dishes, are served with sturdy companions -- mashed potatoes and steamed, tender green beans and sweet baby carrots or a splendid risotto with a hint of lemon and a few green peas.

The restaurant has counter service at lunchtime, table service in the evenings, and the staff is as congenial as the surroundings. The service is casual and very relaxed, but the staff nevertheless strives to make you feel comfortable.

And yet it is the food -- with its understated sense of hominess -- that makes this restaurant such a local favorite.

Salads are not ignored here, and many are big enough for a meal. Sharing a chickpea salad is a sure bet: buttery bibb lettuces and mesclun greens rest under an almost creamy vinagrette. It provides a punchy backdrop for the chickpeas -- at once soft and crunchy, with a rustic, nutty flavor. Tomatoes and slices of bell pepper and red onion complete the party.

Panini and pizza highlight the menu, and slices of a thin-crusted New York-style three-cheese pie were delightfully gooey, with a layer of sweet tomato flavor underneath the bubbly, crusty cheeses.

This is the kind of pizza where the sauce and cheese rule over the crust, and great care had been taken to see that much of the cheeses -- soft, mellow fontina, mozzarella and pungent Parmesan -- had managed to melt over the crust's edges, making tasty little baked crunchies of cheese just right for nibbling.

As at most bistros, Cafe Luna's evening menu relies far more on nightly specials than standard menu fare. It's here that the heart of the restaurant's kitchen lies: roasted salmon fillet with honey maple glaze, roasted sweet Italian sausage with black and red grapes served with mashed potatoes, or a simple manicotti served with a side salad.

Among them I chose the seemingly most humble of all -- a sauteed chicken breast in a cream sauce. What a special surprise it turned out to be, plump and tender, smothered in tangy roasted cherry tomatoes that burst in my mouth and a smooth, rich sauce laced with the snappy flavor of gorgonzola cheese and sweet onion.

I was sure a dish of seared scallops in a strawberry butter would be too sweet. I was wrong. The sharp astringency of the strawberry flavor ended up being a perfect contrast to the scallops' sweetness.

Desserts -- coffeehouse favorites such as wine biscuits and biscotti, as well as seductive cakes made locally by baker Bruce Johnson -- are too tempting to pass up. The icing on a towering slice of carrot cake is part cream cheese, part cloud -- so light, airy and sweetly tangy that I wanted a bucket of it to take home.

A wonderfully seasonal chocolate cake had a custard-like filling reminiscent of pecan pie, and was iced with a dreamy maple-flavored frosting and a dusting of pecans.

Cafe Luna, 22 Midway Rd., Garden City Center, Cranston. 944-1438. Casual. Reservations accepted for parties of six or more. Wheelchair accessible. Open Sun for lunch 11 a.m to 5 p.m., Mon-Thu for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m to 9 p.m. and Fri-Sat from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. No smoking. Parking available in Garden City Center. V, MC. Highchairs and one booster seat available. Children's menu available.

The array of salads are $3.75 to $7.50 for the small size; $7.50 to $9 for the large. Panini and pizzas are $4.75 to $13. Entrees and entree specials are $10 to $21 (for filet mignon with mashed potatoes). Desserts, from cookies and biscotti to cakes, are $1 to $5.50.

The restaurant serves beer and wine only. The wine list is modest, with bottles ranging from $16 to $26.