Lunch review: Coca Cafe

Almost everyone has given some thought to opening their own little restaurant. Even if just in passing, we've all thought how we would do things just right -- and how it would attract just the right crowd of quirky, attractive urban regulars who would all convene here for their next round of madcap, sitcom-like romances and adventures ...

But in reality, it's a difficult, expensive gamble opening a little cafe, however modest in scope. Lawrenceville seems to be Pittsburgh's petri dish for those with small-scale culinary dreams. Want to start an authentic Neapolitan pizza kitchen with all imported ingredients• How about an Asian bistro with Filipino and Thai menus• This is the spot to begin in -- low rents, close to Oakland and the East End, gentrification that has only barely begun.

The Coca Cafe started as a coffee shop with erratic hours but has apparently focused its energies on lunch. Okay, so "Coca" -- cocaine in pre-processed plant form -- is a really weird name for a cafe. Maybe it has other meanings, but that one kind of sticks out. Yes, despite Butler Street's looming renaissance, you can probably still purchase coca in its myriad forms at many points nearby. But that's not something you'd want to point out, right•

However, once you wander in the door, Coca is a bright, arty, cozy little space with mismatched furniture, fresh-cut flowers and colorful abstract art on the walls. It's the kind of place you'd expect to be tucked into the tree-lined boulevards of Point Breeze or Squirrel Hill -- but it actually feels at home in the urban wilds of Lawrenceville.

All said, it's kind of an ideal place for good coffee and conversation -- and as laidback as can be without losing consciousness. On one recent wintry afternoon, it was just two of us eating lunch and David Gray crooning demurely on the hi-fi.

Coca seems to carry the outstanding La Prima coffees, so the conversation will always be stimulating in one respect at least. I got the sickly sweet Macadamia Nut Mocha ($3), which was served foamy and with perhaps just a little bit too much flavored syrup.

The daily special was a Quesadilla ($6.50) with sun-dried tomato, goat cheese and basil spread -- which caused my brain to shut down and disregard all else. It was as good as it sounded, very thin and grilled perfectly, served with a simple field greens and cherry tomato salad on the side. That's unfortunate, because I came in intending to try the Grilled Cheese Panini ($5.50), which sounds like the greatest grilled cheese of all time -- Muenster, cheddar, Jarlsberg and goat cheese, with caramelized onions and ham.

The Spinach Ricotta Panini ($5.75) blended a few largely friendly flavors, with sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions and red and yellow peppers providing decent company. The only complaint was that the panini bread was a little too crusty -- my lunching companion complained that her mouth hurt afterwards.

Additional Information:

Details

Coca Cafe

Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays

Address: 3811 Butler Street, Lawrenceville

Phone: (412) 621-3171