Here’s Johnny’s Cafe

FOOD & DRINK

Cozy yet airy and open, Johnny’s Cafe offers a full-service dining trifecta every day.

By Frank Gabriel

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted May. 4, 2011

Multiple atmospheres and experiences await at Johnny's Cafe.

Photo by Donald Kravitz

One of the surest, most accurate indications of a positive dining experience is the personal presence of an owner on-site during service at a restaurant.

Accordingly, we were pleased to see owner/namesake Johnny Liccio of Margate’s Johnny’s Cafe and Martini bar actively marshaling front-of-the-house staffers upon our arrival for an early dinner on a Friday night in late April.

Liccio, who operates the place along with wife Joanne, possesses a distinguished family food pedigree. This includes being half-brothers with respected Philly and former-shore restauranteur, Joseph Tucker.

The couple’s current business, which began its life a few miles up the road in Ventnor, has found a cozy home in the posh southernmost environs of Absecon Island. With three separate, distinct spaces, Johnny’s offers multiple atmospheres and experiences.

Immediately upon entry, customers are greeted by a beguiling, ivory-hued bar and lounge. Then, the first of two dining rooms, bright, airy and open. Finally, a more private section, to the facility’s far right side, bathed in springy, pastel tones.

For those who remember the real estate’s previous incarnation as a neighborhood diner, the transformation is remarkable.

Which brings us to another important point about Johnny’s. They are also one of a small handful of restaurants offering full service — which is to say breakfast, lunch and dinner — locally. It’s the true trifecta of the industry, and no easy feat to pull off.

Our meal began with a pair of starters, one from the regular menu and the other a nightly addition. First, a house signature called cafe shrimp, brought three succulent decapods enrobed in bacon then bathed with a tangy bar-b-que sauce. Riffing off the classic shrimp Lejon, these bacony beauties were too good for utensils. We dug in, fingers first, making certain not to miss any sweet meat nearest the tail.

That special, one of an impressively long list recited by our server, was lobster macaroni and cheese. This restyled retro treat brought a bubbling cauldron of short rigatoni. Ladled throughout the cheesy pasta were chunks of pure, white lobster. Coated with seasoned breadcrumbs and crisped under a broiler, this golden-brown app had us reaching across the table frequently to sample from the generous portion.

The combination of crunch, cream and cool was spectacular. Right up there with Cape May’s Lobster House as one of the very best versions of this trendy item we’ve sampled to date.
Salads, included with entrees, were a better-than-average version. Spring mix, accented with cucumber and red onion slices, along with cherry tomatoes, played nicely with house’s balsamic vinaigrette.

Entrees started off appropriately with another pasta. Johnny’s Bolognese sauce, a multi-meat event bearing all the hallmarks of painstaking slow southern Italian cookery, was liberally tossed amid well-cooked rigatoni. Nothing skimpy here either, we exited laden down with nearly half of this entree for lunch the next day.

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