What I absolutely loved about the European Market & Café was its selection of some of my favorite European products. While this gourmet food store and deli doesn't have a fabulous dining ambience (a handful of tables in the midst of a retail setting), what it does have is really good food, along with global ingredients and foodstuffs that are not easy to find elsewhere in the city.

Also unique is that the café has a female chef, Amanda James (formerly of Can Can and other local eateries) whose culinary knowledge and skills add to both the carry-out counter service and her creations. While I was there, she was explaining various cheeses to a customer, and offering samples, in between turning out sandwiches and salad plates.

I had dropped by for lunch and as it was very busy, I ended up creating my own menu from the take-out offerings. This is the perfect place to pick up not only lunch or dinner, but also items for an impromptu picnic for an evening at Brown's Island or Lewis Ginter. Pasta salads, spanakopita, meatballs, chunky Italian tuna salad and a variety of fresh vegetables from Asian-spiced green beans to asparagus with almonds were just a few of the choices. Add to that a great cheese display, which stocks some of my favorite French brie and a triple cream called Saint André that I've had difficulty finding, and a meat section that includes an Italian ham called speck that I love, and I had a hard time choosing.

They also have an excellent selection of European beers with several good German and Belgian choices, including a great, lemony summer beer called Stiegl. What's nice is that you can buy these as singles or mix and match a six-pack and get a 10 percent discount on the total. Often it's harder to find these imported beers than to find European wines, but the café stocks a decent selection of those as well, alongside olive oils, condiments, pastas and chocolate from Italy, France, Spain and Germany.

With 42 sandwiches and 16 salads on the menu, plus a couple of soups, it's easy to see why this a popular lunch spot. These menu items, while made with European ingredients, are not necessarily European in origin or style. The "Arc de Triumph" sandwich, for instance, is roasted turkey with brie and bacon on a baguette, while the "Euro Club" adds its continental flair to traditional fillings with aioli on ciabatta.

Five Euro Wraps feature premium imported meats and cheeses: the "Who Grilled My Cheese" has brie, gloucester, dolce gorgonzola and white stilton, while the "El Conquistador" wraps red peppers and pork loin with Spanish mahon cheese and avocado. You also have the option of creating your own sandwich, and pairing it with soup, Caesar or pasta salad for an additional $3.50. Sandwiches range from $6.95 to $9.95, while salads run from $6.95 for a classic Caesar or house to $12.95 for the Crab Cake or Smoked Salmon versions. 

If you're a fan of antipasto, you can create your own platter ($9.95-$14.95) or you can build a cheese or paté sampler of your favorites. I love the traditional European snack, called Brettljause by the Austrians or charcuterie by the French, which is a selection of cold cuts, cheeses and garnishes, and the European Market has the authentic ingredients to create one of your own.

Dinner entrées are available for take-out and from 4 p.m. in the Café dining area, with nine fairly traditional choices including a burger with European cheeses ($10.95), Black Forest Ham with sauerkraut ($11.95), a Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Mediterranean herbs and olive tapenade ( $12.95), and Jumbo Sea Scallops over spinach pasta ($16.95). Two beef dishes, a shrimp scampi with large prawns, turkey breast and a pasta dish with marinara or vodka sauce round out the short menu, but you can also choose from the large salad, sandwich and platter lists as well.

The vodka and marinara sauces are packaged in take-home sizes, as are the desserts which include cannolis ($3), a Molten Lava soufflé ($4), several flavors of Italian Gelato and Sorbet ($5.95 a pint), individual brownies and cookies, and a "pastry du jour", which was a luscious apple and raisin tart on the day of my visit. I couldn't resist adding a dollop of whipped cream to that when I got home.

Since a huge part of the European Market's business is take-out, complete menus for the lunch and dinner fare, as well as for catering, are available to take home. Because this is a small place with limited staff, eating lunch or dinner in the café is going to be continental in timing as well, so if you’re in a hurry, call in your order for pick-up.

Even if you don't go for dine-in service at the café portion, you should definitely add the European Market & Café to your food shopping circuit. And, like me, you may be tempted to pass off some of the chef's creations as your own.