When every thing is made from scratch and the recipes are kicking, you know you're sampling a taste of heaven. Breakfast is served all day, with dishes like savory breakfast casserole with ham, red pepper and Havarti cheese and caramel apple French toast with whipped cream cheese topping the list of crowd-pleasers. Lunch and dinner dishes are probably better than what mom used to make, including meatloaf, spinach lasagna, and chicken and biscuits.

It's easy to take comfort in a heaping plate of lip-smacking comfort food when you're seated at one of the wrap-around window seats facing Clark Street's bustling corner. With seating for about 25, the cafe has a handful of tables for six but is the perfect spot to grab a solo seat and savor a bite. The walls inside are lined with rotating art exhibits while outside you can snag a spot on the spacious patio in warm weather.

If the cafe serves meals your mom would be proud of, its heady desserts would probably leave her "tsk"ing: cupcakes topped with marshmallow-based mountains of icing, delicate raspberry tarts drizzled with white chocolate and sticky coconut macaroons. A Taste of Heaven is most famous for its cakes—hefty slices of stylized sugar dotted with fruit or chocolate chips. Meals range from $6-$9.50; desserts are $1-$5.

Centerstage Reviewer: Kate Rockwood