In a modern take on the Italian tradition of tavola calda – a “hot table” of freshly prepared, ready-to-go or eat-on-the-spot meals – the restaurant-cum-pasticceria-cum-gelateria Bistro77 has been brightening up lunchtime for students, teachers and businesspeople in eastern San José’s Barrio Escalante for about a year. With a cosmopolitan menu that changes daily and includes a cornucopia of choices, Bistro77 posts each day’s menu on its website and on Twitter and Facebook, so lunchgoers can survey the offerings before heading over. This is tavola calda, which dates from Roman times, updated to cyberspeed.

I first spotted the restaurant en route to the dentist early one morning, when I was desperate for a pre-root-canal cup of fortifying coffee. The chic but casual glass-fronted café on the west side of the Farolito roundabout called to me as I drove by. Once inside, I was delighted to find not only a first-class espresso machine but also a showcase filled with homemade Italian biscotti and French-style macarons – pastel-pretty merengue cookies sandwiching rich cream fillings. Somebody here had obviously studied pastry making in France or Italy.