Takeout Hero: Jean-Paul’s Paradiso

461

It’s pretty hard to pick up a carry-out meal at Jean-Paul’s Paradiso—that bakery-cum-pizzeria and pastry shop tucked next to a Sunoco station in Anderson Township—without being tempted to grab tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch as well. The Big Daddy Stone Pie (sausage, peppers, onions, and roasted balsamic tomatoes on a chewy crust) will put you down for a nap before you can finish a second slice.

Pizza
JP’s Pizzas

Photograph by Jeremy Kramer

And if you’re looking for a satisfying sandwich, the hot Cuban (roasted pork, salami, Swiss cheese, pickles, and Dijon mustard) is the one to watch. The roasted portobello soup—“creamy” doesn’t even begin to describe it—is finished with a hint of Marsala. But the serious dish is the Ravioli Paradiso: homemade pasta pillows jammed with sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, mushrooms, and chèvre, drowned in a red pepper cream sauce laced with spinach and meatballs. It’s enough to stuff a Mafia don until he tips back in his chair and shouts “St. Catherine, I’m coming home!” And Swiss Master Chef Jean-Paul Belmont never treats bread or dessert as an afterthought. Pick up a fresh baguette or a European-style dessert: textbook cannoli and biscotti, decadent eclairs, and fluffy chocolate mousse, as well as housemade sorbets and ice creams.

Fruit tart
Fruit tart

Photograph by Jeremy Kramer

Chocolate chip and poppy seed biscotti
Chocolate chip and poppy seed biscotti

Photograph by Jeremy Kramer

Serve this when the boss and her hubby come for dinner and you’ll not just be known as the host with the most, but you might get that raise.

Jean-Paul’s Paradiso, 6732 Clough Pk., Anderson Twp., (513) 231-2780, facebook.com/JeanPaulsParadiso. Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat.

Facebook Comments