Felice's

FELICE'S looks like it's always lived on Greeves Street. You want to call it "old-school Italian" or "a neighbourhood pioneer" but it's only just celebrated its first birthday.

Run by brother-sister team Felix and Angela Di Pietro, who hail from Abruzzo in central Italy (or southern, depending on your politics), Felice's is typical of the cafes and bars you would find there.

But its real charm is its vibe; a slow-burn kind of homeliness that creeps up on you. Maybe it's the old-fashioned look of the place; the dark timber panelling, the pressed-tin ceiling, the assortment of offbeat decorations with a vintage bent (marionette, model aeroplane, foosball table). Maybe it's the use of warm colours; the maroon L-shaped booth, the sepia-toned mirrors, the bulbous lights that emit a low glow when the cafe turns into a bar at night.

The food is nothing flashy — simple, sparsely flavoured dishes using pepper, oregano, basil and not much else. You get the feeling that this is what the Di Pietros would feed you if you popped around to their homes for dinner.

There's a meaty influence from Abruzzo's mountainous interior; an antipasto platter might yield slices of porchetta, prosciutto, fresh, squashy balls of bocconcini and a wide wedge of thin frittata. The star of the platter is the handmade grissini, the crunchy breadsticks soaked through with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano.

Chunky slabs of baked haloumi are dusted with oregano and served in a little earthenware dish with oil pooling at the bottom. Beside them sits an artichoke, tomato and rocket salad.

The pizzas are fantastic in their simplicity — toasty rectangles of focaccia with toppings such as gorgonzola and artichoke or salty hits of anchovy and rosemary.

There is a sameness to the dishes, so you can have the frittata from the antipasto platter in a toasted focaccia with rocket and thick slices of pecorino cheese — a generous serving and mighty reasonable at $7.50.

The rocket/artichoke salad appears again as the bed for the lamb spiedini. The thin skewers of well-done lamb, cooked with pepper, red wine and oregano, are smoky and chewy, so you kind of have to gnaw the meat off the skewer. It might not be for everyone but I liked it.

Now, about the cannoli. For my money, the best ricotta cannoli in town is at O'Heas Bakery & Deli in Coburg — I've yet to find any that surpasses it. Felice's version was OK but lacked a bit of lemony zing and the pastry was a touch soggy in spots. Better was the sweet ricotta tart.

The service, while a touch vague (forgotten coffee, incorrect change — they gave me a $100 bill instead of $10), is thoughtful and pleasantly low-key.

Felice's has free Wi-Fi, too, yet it feels like this place was around long before the era of instant accessibility. Maybe that's why it is so relaxing?

nrousseau@theage.com.au