Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Outdoor dining at Cafe du Jour on the South Side echoes the ambience of New Orleans' French Quarter. Click photo for larger image. Cafe du Jour 1107 E. Carson St. South Side 412-488-9695 Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; dinner 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Basics: A storefront cafe with a minuscule garden reminiscent of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Two young creative chefs man the small kitchen and cook American food with fresh ingredients. Prices: Appetizers, $5-$8; entrees, $13-$19; desserts, $6; BYOB, $2 per stem corkage. Summary: No smoking. Wheelchair-accessible. Street parking with meters. Cash only. Reservations accepted.

There is not a restaurant critic alive who wouldn't think long and hard before revealing the charms of a tiny jewel that seats no more than 20 guests. It's selfishness, pure and simple. Will hungry readers make it impossible for me to ever again reserve a table? Will too much success spoil the quality of the kitchen? Will too much traffic ruin the intimate atmosphere? But in this case, duty to Pittsburgh restaurant-goers and a genuine desire to share the joys of dining in a secret garden bistro have won out.

Cafe du Jour was born in 2001 in a storefront on East Carson Street, South Side. The space had been an art gallery, jewelry store and catering business in the past. It was in the 1970s that Carson Street visionary Charles Samaha designed the garden space behind the store. He had lived in New Orleans at one point and was enamored of the beauty that could be created in the smallest open spaces available in French Quarter townhouses. He was able to re-create the same ambience in the pocket-sized patio at the rear of 1107 E. Carson. High walls covered with vines, a tree, a sculpture and a gurgling fountain and pond turn this patio into a serene haven from summer heat, workday stress and urban noise. There, Bourbon Street seems far closer than Carson Street.

The chefs/partners at Cafe du Jour met at the place when they were both hired to cook for the original owner. Shortly after their arrival, the cafe was for sale, and these two talented young men pooled their resources to buy it. Dan Robinson is from Pittsburgh and began working in the food industry at age 15. While studying video production at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, he worked at the cafe to help pay expenses and found that cooking was more satisfying than filming.

Paul Krawiec is from the San Francisco area and came to Pittsburgh with a companion who was studying medicine at UPMC. Krawiec has a degree in anthropology but somewhere along the way decided that he was more interested in the study of food than he was in the study of humans. This diversity of geographic regions and the combined intellectual disciplines of art and science might be part of the winning formula in the kitchen. Krawiec loves to read cookbooks for inspiration. Robinson claims that he dreams about new food compositions before creating them and that he can taste in his head much as a composer can hear musical notes before putting them on paper. The fact that neither has had formal culinary arts education only speaks for their unhampered imaginations and fresh approach.

Cafe du Jour appetizers are called "Small Plates." You will find no fried zucchini, stuffed banana peppers, coconut shrimp or mozzarella sticks on this menu. Instead, consider Chevre Stuffed Portobello Mushroom with sauteed spinach topped with fig-port sauce ($7). This fat mushroom sandwich is bursting with layers of taste and texture surprises. The fig-port sauce is a subtle blend of sweet elements coming from an unexpected combination. Chicken-Cranberry-Apple Sausage ($8) brings further originality to play with a saute of spicy apple pieces, onion and pine nuts bound with maple syrup and topped with slices of brie that melt when the dish is baked. Perhaps the most unusual appetizer is Ricotta and Herb Skillet Cakes with Smoked Salmon ($8). Three golden pancakes chock-full of fresh dill are topped with slices of smoked salmon and cucumber and dressed with a dollop of horseradish-flavored sour cream. I loved the skillet cakes with the smoked fish, reminiscent of caviar and blini, but for me the horseradish was off-putting. I would have preferred just chopped dill in the cream and the next time I order this dish that is what I will ask for.

It is hard to imagine how a miniscule kitchen with minimum equipment can turn out the culinary delights that emanate from this cafe space. With just four burners and one convection oven, Krawiec and Robinson are limited to preparations that are either pan-seared, sauteed or roasted. The Petit Tender of Beef ($19) is pan-seared and sauced with rosemary-citrus beurre rouge. This is a reduction of red wine and orange juice and zest that has been mounted with butter, providing a rich and creamy addition to the beef. Incidentally, this is a beef tender (not a filet), an interesting and unusual cut of meat that is extremely flavorful and quite tender.

For vegetarians, there are two superb entrees. The first is Roasted Vegetables ($15) with quinoa pilaf, toasted walnuts and tomato-basil vinaigrette. The other is Roasted Eggplant ($13). The horizontally sliced eggplant is roasted and rolled around fresh mozzarella, onion confit and sun-dried tomatoes and baked with a spinach, basil and walnut pesto cream sauce. This is a blue-ribbon winner in the vegetarian category. Other entrees such as Pine Nut Encrusted Salmon with green herb aioli and Pan Seared Scallops in tomato-champagne sauce with wilted tomatoes and couscous timbale capture the culinary brio of these chefs.

All of the "Small Plates" are also available for lunch, which is served from 11:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. In addition there are numerous sandwiches from $5.50 to $7. The sandwich combinations are as inventive as the dinner menu. Where else can you find sun-dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and spinach-walnut pesto on a BreadWorks French baguette ($7)? Soups are Robinson's passion, and here, too, diners will encounter unusual taste blends. His Smoked Tomato, Sausage and Scallop Stew with Lime Creme Fraiche won honors at a recent South Side soup contest. Soups at the cafe are $3 a cup or $5.50 a bowl.

Desserts at the cafe are made by a friend of the chefs'. All are fresh. All are amazing. Don't leave without trying Banana Nutella Cheesecake ($6). Even this cheesecake-averse taster swooned over it. Chocolate lovers can stop dreaming about Willy Wonka's fictional chocolate river because they will discover real chocolate nirvana on Pittsburgh's South Side. The Chocolate Torte with white chocolate ganache ($6) was so good it bewitched my dining companion into stone silence. These unforgettable desserts offer the perfect finish to a dinner in the restaurant's charming garden setting.

Because everything is cooked only after an order is placed, dinner comes at a leisurely pace. The service is efficient and friendly. Keep in mind that diners bring their own alcoholic beverages and must pay in cash. Corkage is $2 per glass stem. Reservations for dinner are essential, but lunch is a much more flexible time to experience Robinson and Krawiec's cuisine and to savor the allure of their magical garden on East Carson Street.