Cooper's

In all, it's not a premium selection, but rather, a good list of well-chosen value wines that ranges internationally from St. Urbans-Hof riesling to Four Vines zin without the predictable cliches (only one cabernet and one chardonnay!). The prices, mostly around $11 or less, are fair for generous six-ounce pours. For pure quality, though, one can do even better with one of the beers, a goblet of Atomium grand cru or Saison Dupont from Belgium, perhaps, or a Fat Dog Stout from Stoudt's.

Cooper's menu is really the best reason to visit, and for more than just pizza. There are some excellent cheese plates, including creamy Green Hill from Georgia with strawberry-thyme preserves, and the Gruyère-like Pleasant Ridge from Wisconsin with burnt onion jam. There is a bountiful charcuterie platter featuring Benton's aged country ham - Tennessee's stellar answer to prosciutto.

The entreelike braised short rib was one of my few disappointments, too much like boiled brisket in soupy broth with rubbery little polenta dumplings. But I enjoyed virtually every other dish - a distinctively seasonal mac & cheese bound with pureed butternut squash; oven-roasted tender shrimp topped with herby chimichurri; roasted beets scattered with the sweetness and crunch of almond-thyme praline. And I loved Cooper's temperature twist on the old Caprese, roasting a full vine of cherry tomatoes, then setting them hot atop a cool cloud of milky stracciatella curds.

There are also hearty entree salads, such as the chicken cobb with Benton's bacon and Roquefort dressing, that should please the Manayunk ladies who lunch - those faithful shoppers who have fueled Main Street through its ebbs and flows. I wonder how many of the old guard will continue to gobble down the oniony Yassa chicken, a staff meal-turned-menu star from Soumah's native Guinea, once it gets out that it's not made with boneless white meat. ("I was surprised we could sell chicken thighs!" muses Cooper.)

Ah, the freedom of bistro cooking!

At least pastry chef Debbie Tonsey's desserts have stayed a constant. The same well-wrought classics that have long anchored Jake's sweet menu for years are served at Cooper's, too: the crisp profiteroles with house-churned ice cream drizzled in shiny dark chocolate, the cinnamon-roasted apple cobbler with spiced molasses ice cream. And, of course, the famous cookie taco, an ice-cream sundae baubled with berries and white chocolate curls in a sugar-crisped tortilla cradle.

As the Jake's crowd learns to welcome its casual new sibling, it's a welcome taste of a festive, familiar comfort.