The Dolce Coffee House on Via Argentina

Usually when this reporter goes to review a dining establishment, it's a matter of ordering what looks good and trying it out, reviewing the place if there's anything to recommend it and ignoring it if there isn't. But on the first visit to the Dolce Coffee House it was a matter of exchanging some books and getting a couple of empanadas --- cheese and chicken, large and very good --- to go. The next couple of visits were brief stops en route to lawyer visits to exchange books. It wasn't until recently that time was taken to sit down and eat a meal. I ordered the chicken pot pies.

Now, if you go to this Canadian-owned establishment they will probably have meat pies, but they might not have the chicken ones that day. Baked things are the main fare here, but there is no printed menu. You look at what's in the glass case, see what's listed on the chalkboard or ask. It will be a somewhat different selection every day. Get there in the morning and you might find waffles or breakfast wraps. Go there for lunch and it might be lasagna, or chili, or bratwurst with sauerkraut.

There will always be a selection of sweet things --- maybe apple pie, or on the day of this reporter's latest visit, cherry; and maybe banana bread, maybe cookies, maybe brownies, maybe all of the above and then some.

Oh yes, and coffee. This is, after all, a coffee house. Tea and other beverages are also available.

Were you raised on Swanson's frozen pot pies? Those, you may recall, evolved over the years, with ever more runny gravy and fewer chunks of stuff.

The Dolce Coffee House chicken pies are recognizable as such to someone raised on the industrial fare, but they really are something else. As in better, flakier crust, with a little steam hole garnished with a sprig of parsley and a sculpted fresh carrot heart. As in less gravy than Swanson's, and a lot more meat and vegetables. There is nothing mass produced or artificial about the Dolce's meat pies. If all you know about meat pies are the things you get from the supermarket freezer, try these. They are infinitely better.

Nor does the Dolce Coffee House play such corporate fast food games as playing music designed to make you eat faster, either by subtly manipulating your mood or by torturing your eardrums so that you will want to make a quick escape. There's no TV on the premises either.

See, this place is also a book exchange that caters mainly to English-language readers and the atmosphere is designed to encourage people to relax and read.

The Dolce Coffee House just got a beer and wine license, but the beginnings of a plan are to maybe expand the hours that the place is open but not substantially alter the atmosphere. The intention is that it will still be a place for bookworms, not for worm dancing. It will be the leading source of meat pies, but won't register among the capital's principal meat market bars.

If you don't know this place, which is on Via Argentina around the corner from the Einstein head, downstairs from Subway, you really ought to get to know it. It's one of those small businesses that gives El Cangrejo character.

Also in this section:
American citizens: NOW is the time to cast your absentee ballots --- here's how
Panama Historical Society carries on
Tuesday Talks
Scenes from the Handicrafts Fair
Comfort food, book exchange and more at the Dolce Coffee House
Canadian Thanksgiving
The American Society's tentative US election debate
Democrats Abroad
Paella lesson
Something of a pugilistic golden age

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