Golden Cup Cafe

The Golden Cup Cafe has cobbled together a few seasoned pros: owners Massimo Ubertini and Judy Anagnos, formerly of the Med Deli; Michelle Duffy, erstwhile chef of Mimi's; and Jared Young, pastry maker extraordinaire.

How fortunate for them. How fantastic for us.

Situated in the Piggy Wiggly shopping center at Maybank Highway and Main Road on Johns Island, the bistro takes its name from a famous cafe in Rome, Italy, called La Tazza d'Oro. Translation: Golden Cup. Though its Roman namesake enjoys a reputation tied to its longevity, both shops celebrate similar missions: offering superb coffee, pastries and ice cream.

And let's not forget the provisions, ranging from quiches to tarts, sandwiches to salads, weekend brunch favorites (biscuits and gravy, and shrimp n' grits), and the recent dinner additions of chicken pot pie and orecchiette.

During lunch, Golden Cup uses freshly-baked focaccia bread for its panini, the crispy exterior decked with gentle grill marks. The Italian ($7.75) contains sweet prosciutto, tomatoes and melted mozzarella cheese, which bleeds into the buttery bread. Well done, without a doubt. Among the other panini: the Muffaletta ($7.95) with Italian meats, provolone and olive tapenade, and the Reuben ($7.75), corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing on marble rye. Then there's the Farmer's Market sandwich ($7.25), a garden delight consisting of spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, roasted red pepper cream cheese and homemade Greek dressing on multigrain bread.

The Cobb salad ($7.75) comes with sliced chicken and strips of avocado splayed on top, bacon, split-open boiled eggs and another tasty housemade vinaigrette.

Indeed, nearly everything is made from scratch at the Golden Cup, not the least of which are the cakes, desserts and treats from Young.

And granted, it's always great to see talented folks find a new home.

Address: 3575 Maybank Highway, Johns Island.

Phone: 559-2727.

Hours: 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sunday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.