They put a casual touch on continental cuisine

Appetizers include bulgur wheat tabbouleh salad with fresh mint, parsley, and lemon wrapped in a whole-wheat tortilla with avocado and red pepper guacamole.

"The menu is a little bit uptown, but not scary," Thompson says with a chuckle. "We keep an informal atmosphere. Our bar menu is real casual; you can go both ways."

Forget casual. I start out with pan-seared salmon with a caper and fresh herb relish, and my wife tries the lamb tikka, grilled Indian meatballs with a creamy spiced yogurt and mint dipping sauce. Chulick insists on fresh herbs for his sauces.

"One of the advantages of a small restaurant [10 tables] is that we can grow all the herbs and greens for our sauces and salads," he says. "I don't own a lawn mower. My whole yard is a garden. I also grow eight varieties of heirloom tomatoes that start ripening in August."

The Back Door Cafe is known for its seasonal specialties and rotating menu, a feature that brings back the locals, who make up most of the clientele. "We change the menu every two weeks as new items become available," Chulick says. "I love working with seasonal foods. It adds a personal touch to the cuisine."

Two entrees capture our attention. I order the handmade fettuccine tossed in garlic sauce and topped with marinated and grilled eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, and red onion with soft goat cheese and herbs. My wife chooses shrimp, crab, mussels, calamari, and flounder in a spiced ginger and sun-dried tomato broth with mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

To accompany the meal, we choose baked tomatoes Rockefeller and fresh morel mushrooms stuffed with roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

"Mushrooms are big with me," Chulick says. He often gathers his own from the surrounding forests. "The morel season is over in Pennsylvania, so we get them from Oregon. I stuff them with local, organic potatoes and my home-grown herbs."

The restaurant building was a pub for 75 years, and the Back Door Cafe keeps the tradition alive with a full-service bar and extensive wine list. Every Thursday, the bar features local music.

"I can't get out to party anymore so I bring the party here," Thompson says. "We have mellow music: jazz, blues, and folk."

Open since 2000, the Back Door Cafe is a dream come true for this couple. After years of cooking as a part-time passion on both coasts, Chulick returned to school at age 38 and received an associate degree in culinary arts with classical continental training. The couple quit their day jobs and opened a catering business.

"At the end of every party, our clients would say, `Please open a restaurant,' " Thompson says. "So we did."

Back Door Cafe, 402 Chestnut St., Johnstown, Pa.; 814-539-5084; www.thebackdoorcafe.com. A meal with appetizer, entree, vegetable, and dessert, about $45.