Tony Tye, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The decor at the Gypsy Cafe has a religious theme. The South Side restaurant is on the ground level of a former Greek Orthodox church. Click photo for larger image. Gypsy Cafe 1330 Bingham St. South Side 412-381-4977 Hours: Lunch, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; dinner, 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays, 6-11 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, until midnight Fridays and 5 p.m.-midnight Saturdays; Sunday brunch noon-3 p.m., dinner 4-9 p.m. Basics: A fun and funky environment in the ground level of what once was a Greek Orthodox church, this cafe serves an eclectic menu of cuisines that span the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. Casual service and simple, comfortable food have made this a neighborhood favorite. Live entertainment means that reservations are essential. Prices: Appetizers, $4-$9; entrees, $14-$18; desserts, $5; BYOB with $5 corkage. Summary: No-smoking; wheelchair accessible; major credit cards accepted. Parking is the usual South Side drama.

Only a block removed from the mainstream dining mecca that is East Carson Street on the South Side, Gypsy Cafe feels more like the bohemian artists hangouts I frequented in Vienna in the 1950s. It is the kind of place that is warm and welcoming and provides an informal, homey environment for a wide array of regulars.

Gypsy Cafe is the brainchild of Melanie Evankovich, a South Side native who lives just two blocks from the restaurant. Evankovich loves her neighborhood and is committed to serving the community. On Mondays, when the restaurant is closed, she hosts events such as the party for newly registered voters she threw last week. She knows her guests, many by name, and obviously enjoys providing a venue where the neighborhood can congregate for tea and sympathy or any other need. Her partner is executive chef Jim Dietz. He is assisted in the kitchen by sous chefs Erin Mangan and Joe Post.

An eclectic mix of castoff furniture, oriental rugs and icon-like religious paintings set the stage in a room with a 22-foot ceiling covered in ornately patterned tin. Walls painted in several shades of crimson and purple, with plaster peeled away in spots to expose old bricks, further accentuate the funkiness of the decor. My dining companion pointed out that even the waiters complemented the decor, with faces that seemed to have jumped off a Caravaggio canvas.

The menu is equally diverse. Designed to feature the cuisines of all the countries where Gypsies roam, you will find influences that range from classic Mediterranean to Eastern European and Middle Eastern. If there is one unchanging focus, it is that all ingredients are seasonal and fresh.

The cafe is open for lunch and dinner. The luncheon menu features a short list of entrees in addition to sandwiches, soups and salads. In each case, the price includes a fountain beverage or iced tea. I particularly like the names of such sandwiches as Quirky Turkey ($8), which I think refers to the rosemary chevre and arugula embellishments, or Gypsy Roast Beast ($8), which adds mozzarella cheese, grape tomato and tapenade salad to warm roast beef. Sandwiches are made with white or wheat BreadWorks ciabatta bread. Nothing on the lunch menu is more than $10, including broiled salmon with arugula-pistachio pesto with green salad.

A nice prelude to dinner is a Hummus Platter ($9). Three large portions of hummus flavored with feta and horseradish, pumpkin and curry, and black pepper and sesame are served with pita triangles and fresh raw vegetables. One platter will serve four diners. Ajvar ($6) is an Eastern European staple made from roasted eggplant and roasted red peppers seasoned with garlic, paprika, oil and lemon. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, where I once lived, ajvar replaces butter for bread served at dinner. There is house-made tiropita ($8) and cavapcici meatballs ($8), meatballs of house-made sausage served with ajvar, tzatziki and cranberry-dijon salsa.

Fifteen entrees cover the gamut from pastas to pork loin. There are a number of vegetarian dishes. Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Gnocchi ($15) are handmade in the kitchen from fresh ingredients and sauced with fresh sage and butter. Winter Vegetable Tajine ($14) is a typical Moroccan stew of chick peas, turnips, zucchini, carrots and sweet potatoes cooked in an aromatic sauce seasoned with cumin and cinnamon.

A favorite with Gypsy Cafe regulars is Szekely Goulash ($16). Based on a Transylvanian recipe, it is a combination of stewed pork and sauerkraut in sour cream and paprika sauce served with egg noodles. I was not enamoured of this dish, perhaps because it lacks the thick red sauce redolent with smoky Hungarian paprika that I associate with anything called goulash. Here the sauce is white and the paprika taste I associate with goulash is missing.

My own favorite entree is Shrimp, Scallop and Feta Stew ($18). This rendition of fish stew comes in a creamy white wine broth flavored with feta cheese, onions, tomatoes and a bouquet of herbs. Served in a large bowl with toasted baguette croutons, this was a dish I have not seen elsewhere. Fresh, light and healthy, it hit all the right buttons.

Cossack Chicken ($16) is directly related to beef stroganoff. A poached chicken breast with a sauce of sour cream, mushrooms, onions and garlic is topped with feta and Gruyere cheese and served with mashed sweet potatoes and parsnips and perfectly steamed, al dente broccoli. If you are considering pasta, be warned that Gemelli with Shrimp, Kalamata and Cherry Tomatoes ($18) has a heavy dose of garlic. I felt the fresh tomatoes turned this hot dish into more of a pasta salad. If anyone asked, I would suggest replacing them with roasted tomatoes, which would integrate more with the pasta and shrimp. In just one week the cafe will present a new menu for spring and some of these entrees will be replaced. Thankfully, the shrimp and scallop stew will remain.

All the desserts at Gypsy Cafe are made by Evankovich's mother and her mother's friend. All are $5. These are cakes like our grandmothers used to make ... from scratch. Butter Pecan cake is layers of fluffy white buttermilk cake frosted with melted white chocolate and cream cheese icing and toasted pecans. Peach Upside Down Cake also brought back memories of the days when moms stayed home and cooked family dinners that always included a fresh-from-the-oven dessert. But the dessert that I am still dreaming about is Caramel Fudge Tart, which has a candy-bar quality. The chocolate walnut crust contains a layer of chewy caramel topped by a layer of melt-in-the-mouth milk chocolate ganache. A close second would be Double Crust Pecan Danish Tart, a pecan pie with a hint of apricot between two crusts.

Gypsy Cafe offers live entertainment several nights a week. Thursdays from 8 to 11 p.m., the Gypsy Strings will serenade you with a lively program of Croatian folk music. Jerry Grcevich plays the tamburitza and is joined by four other stringed instruments. On Friday and Sunday evenings, Rebecca is on hand to read fortunes from Tarot cards. There are monthly jazz concerts and belly dancers. In other words, there is rarely a dull moment at Gypsy Cafe!

The Cafe is currently BYOB with a $5 corkage fee.