Convito Café & Market

Convito Café & Market has been in Plaza del Lago since 1980, when Nancy Brussat came back from four years in England with a taste for Italian cooking and opened Convito Italiano at a time when, as her daughter later put it, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes were new to the North Shore. Brussat died in January 2025; Candace Barocci Warner, who ran the business with her mother as general manager and then co-owner, carries on. The cafe cooks country French and Italian dishes, and the market case holds house-made pastas, sauces, salads and sandwiches to take home, plus a wine selection. The plaza’s own lot handles parking.

What to know

• Opened in 1980 by Nancy Brussat as Convito Italiano.
• Now run by Brussat’s daughter, Candace Barocci Warner, who co-owned the business with her mother.
• Half cafe with table service, half market with prepared foods, bakery items and wine.
• Located in Plaza del Lago, the 1920s Spanish-style shopping center on Sheridan Road.
• Catering and reservations are handled through the cafe’s site.