Sharing a Secret

Only locals seem to know about Pane Dolce, a cute little Sherman Oaks cafe-deli-coffeehouse serving terrific breakfasts and light lunches. In fact, the locals I’ve met seemed less than eager to share their secret.

There’s nothing to the place but a pastry case and a few aisles of tea and boutique chocolates. You order at the counter and seat yourself at one of the small wooden tables. Try for one near the windows--this is one of the few stretches of Ventura Boulevard with substantial foot traffic. The people-watching potential gives this place a European feel.

At breakfast, most locals will be ordering the fluffy, delicious hot oatmeal with raisins, which is made to order (allow 10 minutes). On my first visit, I also had a bowl of the cafe’s nutty, crunchy granola and a perfect caffe latte.

You can also get soft scrambled eggs with tomatoes and a sprinkle of basil, or a nice ham and cheese omelet served with fresh fruit. Most of the breakfast pastries come from Il Fornaio; the cinnamon rolls and the croissants are especially appealing. Juices are actually squeezed to order.

At lunch, there are always two or three soups, such as pureed carrot soup, a rich mushroom soup or a hearty potato-zucchini soup. There are also composed salads, which taste freshly made. The turkey pasta salad is about equal parts meat and pasta. The colorful grilled vegetable pasta includes eggplant, carrots, zucchini and about four other vegetables.

Insalata Caprese is a vivid plate of tomatoes, bufala mozzarella and black olives, drizzled with green olive oil. The tuna salad is also colorful, mixed as it is with minced red onions and red and green bell peppers.

The Italian sandwiches, on crusty sourdough, may be the best reason to eat lunch here. There’s a wonderful egg salad panino that includes herbs and shreds of carrots. The turkey, pesto and cranberry panino is like a new-age Thanksgiving between slices of bread. The misleadingly named Mediterraneo is about as California as it gets: Swiss cheese, cucumber, avocado, tomato and sprouts.

The best of the toasted panini is tosti Pane Dolce: thinly sliced Black Forest ham, Swiss cheese and herbed mustard.

This is an Italian coffeehouse dream, and eating by the window with a cup of that good caffe latte on hand, you feel as much as if you were in Florence as is possible on Ventura Boulevard.

Oh, yes--you can get lacy, chocolate-covered Florentine cookies for dessert.

BE THERE

Pane Dolce, 13608 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Open 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday; 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. Street parking. No alcohol. MasterCard and Visa. Lunch for two, $12-$17. Suggested dishes: homemade oatmeal, $3.50; mushroom soup, $3.50; egg salad panino, $5.50; tosti Pane dolce, $5.50. Call (818) 783-1384.