Richmond’s beloved Café Gutenberg, at the corner of 17th and Main streets, is alive and well, and may cause me to gain 10 pounds in the very near future. I’ve become addicted to their mixed berry turnovers made with luscious summer fruits.

After creating a near panic a few months ago when the Café announced it was closing, Gutenberg responded to the outpouring of support from its fans, and has been hanging in there, serving simple and satisfying local and seasonal foods.

It’s European Illy coffee, free wi-fi and bookish vibe still draw the caffeine and web surfing crowd, but it’s the food that should be drawing patrons from all over Richmond.

Café Gutenberg hates to be called a “coffee shop,” and in the American definition of the term (think Starbucks), one can easily understand that. But, the similarities between Gutenberg and the venerable literary coffeehouses of Vienna are striking.

You can order a pastry and coffee and read your morning paper undisturbed at Café Gutenberg.

No server or manager is going to bother you, shoo you along or try to “turn” your table. Like the famous Café Central in Vienna, sans the ornate gilding and architecture, Gutenberg serves a full menu all day long and late into the evening, and has a “literary” vibe with its complimentary periodicals and books for borrowing or buying.

Vegan Biscuits and sausage gravy, a Vegetarian Mixed Grill of mock duck skewers and tofu satay, and a Vegan Caesar Salad with grilled tofu and a lemon caper dressing are just a few of the choices. Breakfast and brunch items run from $3 to $8.75, with lunch offerings averaging $10.

I love the Turkey Gazon, a fresh croissant slathered with watercress aioli and stuffed with turkey, applewood bacon, cucumbers and onions. The Pulled Pork French Dip … on a baguette of course … is another winner, and the salads are sensational with the local summer produce. The Simple Salad with roasted Virginia beets, baby spinach, candied pecans, and a white balsamic dressing is anything but, and the Paradise Farms Salad with heirloom cherry tomatoes, baby lettuces, bacon, cucumber, pumpkin seeds and a buttermilk-basil dressing is a field on a plate.

Because Gutenberg’s chefs use seasonal and local ingredients, daily specials and frequent menu additions are de rigeur here. Currently fresh fish and summer veggies play a starring role on the dinner menu, with entrees like Miso-Crusted Rainbow Trout and Mixed Grill of Spring Lamb and Curried Chicken Satay. A Summer Vegetable Tortellini with oyster mushrooms, local asparagus, spring onions and baby spinach in a porcini-truffle cream is the kind of summer supper an Italian or French farmer’s wife might make, albeit with an upscale twist.

Current seasonal appetizers include Petit Jumbo Lump Crabcakes with a curry remoulade and Fresh Marinated Mozzarella with a basil and black olive salad. Appetizers start at $4 and top out at $11 for the crabcakes, while entrées run from $8 to $17.

Dine European-style and start with a sparkling Aperitif like the Mont Marcal Cava Brut, and have the Taylor Fladgate Porto as a Digestif with your after dinner espresso.  A compact, but well-rounded wine list, offers nine whites and nine reds with a couple of nice Austrian and German Rieslings. On the beer list, a German Hefeweissbier and a Dopplebock keep company with several good Belgium bottles.

This is one Richmond restaurant that we don’t want to see exported, so if you haven’t been able to afford a trip to Europe this summer, head down to Shockoe Bottom, grab an outdoor café table, and enjoy a leisurely dining experience that offers the best of both worlds … great American food in a classic European environment.