HO HO KUS -- SOME restaurants, like some people, exist in their own world. Others are extroverts. Janice, a 65-seat bistro that took up residence here two years ago, is so outgoing it could just about run for mayor.

"An enchanting feeling of goodwill starts to work even before the meal begins at Janice, a little neighborhood bistro in Ho-Ho-Kus. All who enter are welcomed with open arms, raised glasses, and welcoming smiles by a whimsical mural of the owners' fun-loving, foodhungry family. This is a family-run bistro in the true sense of the word, offering satisfying, honest fare in an often lively and always warm environment.

The bistro is the dream and namesake of chef-owner Janice Tinari, a professional caterer who rules the kitchen with efficient skill and a confident hand - and the essential ingredients of Mediterranean cooking. Tinari feeds her customers like family and exhibits a feverish need to please, evident from the white linen napkins on each table breakfast, lunch, or dinner - to the fresh herb- and lemon-scented pool of extra virgin olive oil served with each basket of bread.

Cozy green leather booths, pressed-tin ceiling, and swivel stools at a long counter fashion the unpretentious appeal of a luncheonette while deep cherry paneling, subtle artistic lighting, and well-placed candles pitch in to create a sophisticated, warm glow about the room.

Janice's husband, John Tinari, another fixture here, directs the theater of the bistro behind the counter where he tallies checks, offers opinions, and stirs an authentic egg cream. Enthusiastic and good-looking young servers, many of whom are family members, keep up the pace, listening for bell commands from the kitchen.

Bring a good bottle of wine and prepare to choose from a menu of timeless, home-style French, Italian, and American classics. The menu starts with a short list of appetizers, and we sampled two.

Neither tender rings of grilled calamari and shrimp ($10) nor sweet, plump, and perfectly fried oysters ($10) gathered worthy support from a humdrum, sleepy bed of mesclun salad mix.

However, two appetizers from the list of specials showcased elemental flavors and fresh ingredients at their best. I loved the simplicity of the cool, crisp wedge of iceberg lettuce ($8) draped in a savory Gorgonzola dressing and topped with shards of crisp bacon, and found true happiness in a perfect salad Caprese ($8) of ripe red tomato with fresh and milky mozzarella, finished with a blanket of flawless basil leaves, drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and generous twist of fresh black peppercorns.

Gazpacho ($5), the soup of the day, served at room temperature, was thick with finely diced fresh vegetables. It had a deep and earthy flavor, but was too warm to be refreshing.

Market-fresh ingredients inspire daily specials. We savored a steamed fat green artichoke ($8) with a creamy goat's cheese dipping sauce one leaf at a time, and delighted in a fritto misto preparation of asparagus and zucchini ($8), sealed in a cheese batter and fried to a golden brown. The firm white fillet of orange roughy ($22) laid down a clean, fresh foundation for a colorful and robust cover of chopped green and black olives, capers, and tomatoes.

Lobster served fra diavolo style ($28), a frequent special, is often made with Brazilian lobster tails, and may include shrimp and clams in a spicy sauce. We hit the jackpot with what appeared to be a full 1-1/2-pound lobster, steamed and split, heady with garlic and a clean heat soothed by a steaming bowl of linguine.

Although artful presentations and international titles compose much of the menu, it must be said that Janice's bistro burger ($10), topped with cheddar, Swiss, or blue cheese, is the best hamburger I've had this side of the Hudson. And pot roast ($20), braised tender in a rich and savory sauce and served with great "smashed" potatoes, is a heaping plate of pleasure.

Homemade desserts are irresistible. A weightless cloud of tangy lemon mousse ($4) is made light and fluffy with sweet whipped cream. Cheesecake ($6), an heirloom family recipe, is creamy and luscious. Rice pudding ($4) is rich with a hint of cinnamon. My plan to "just taste" the chocolate cream pie ($5) was foiled from the first silky bite to the last sweet crumb of the graham cracker crust."

"It's Friday afternoon at Janice, A Bistro in Ho-Ho-Kus. In the narrow, galley-style kitchen, a large pot of aromatic winter vegetables, stock and herbs simmers on the stove, ready to pour over meaty veal shanks. After several hours, of braising, the veal will be served as tonight's osso buco special. Janice Tinari, the restaurant's owner and chef, checks on her cooks as they put the finishing touches on soups and sauces. Janice is critiquing taste and texture to make sure everything that will be served to her customers has her stamp of approval. She understands that consistency is vital to a restaurant's success, so too is staff who will do things her way.

In 2003, two years after Janice opened, The New York Times reviewer David Corcoran wrote that the restaurant "is so outgoing it could just about run for mayor."

Her husband, John, and oldest son, David, run the dining room with exuberant charm. Petite and somewhat reserved, Janice appears far younger than one might expect for a mother of three grown children and a 16-year-old. It is her nurturing instinct and her maternal penchant for feeding her family that make her a successful chef, despite no formal training.

Both Janice and her husband grew up in the Bronx, where she went to Catholic school and to an all-girls college. Saying that "she could not sit still," she left college to work for Warner Bros. Studios in advertising. In 1972, she married John, who had launched a career in real estate.

"I started cooking the day I got married," she laughs, remembering, "the best times were when my in-laws were alive, and my kids were small and we all had dinner together - sometimes twice a week."

In 1983, eager for a bigger house, the Tinaris looked in Westchester, but couldn't find the right combination of home and property. John suggested New Jersey.

"I said, 'You want to take me over the bridge?"' Janice laughs. "You've got a city girl, here." It was important to the Tinaris to be near transportation, since John worked in the city. They had never heard of Ho-Ho-Kus, but their real estate agent suggested the town. There, they found a home, and Janice settled in to being a full-time mom.

JANICE GETS COOKING

When her youngest daughter, Alison, now 16, started preschool, Janice says, "a bunch of my friends would say to me - you've got to start cooking."

In 1993, Janice enlisted a friend to help her launch a catering business. "I bought a refrigerator and a freezer for rn~ basement, and we just started cooking. We sent out fliers to our friends, calling it 'La Cucina Express,"' she says, laughing at the name. "We just went to school one day and started handing out fliers to everybody we knew ... and people started calling and coming and ordering."
"I've found that when people eat something they love and they come back and it's different, they know," she says. "You can't pull a fast one over on your customers." On the back of Janice's menu, she has written, "My happiest times and memories are cooking for and entertaining my beautiful family and close friends." Her storefront bistro is a natural extension of her family dinner table. Her circle of friends has widened as her reputation has grown.

The catering business focused on Italian food, soups and .sauces. "Before we knew it, it just took off," Janice says.

In 1995, while still catering on her own, Janice took a job at Moveable Feast, which was, at the time, a busy off-premise catering operation based in Ho-Ho-Kus. She was tempted to buy the business when the owner offered it for sale, but felt that it wasn't the right time because her daughter was still young. But her restaurant dreams had begun to take hold, and six months later, Janice says, she was "kicking herself."

Then, in 2001, the storefront luncheonette on Sheridan Avenue became available.

"John and I had been talking about going into the restaurant business for a while," Janice says. "I saw this and I said, 'I've got to give it a shot.' I didn't want to say one day again, 'Why didn't I do that?"' Drawing on her husband's real estate experience, she called him and said, "You make the deal, here's the number."

A BISTRO IS BORN

Six months of renovation peeled away layers of luncheonette "improvements" and softened the space. "It really was a greasy spoon," Janice says. "We did a lot of demolition, which John did, basically. We worked with the bones of what was here."

On the left side of the restaurant, a row of old-fashioned booths remains, but the paneled wall next to them is now refinished in a mahogany stain while individual lamps give each booth a cozy glow. The Tinaris added a tin ceiling and closed in the kitchen, but left the substantial lunch counter and stools. "If we had taken it away, the space would have lost its charm," Janice says. The counter is used at breakfast and lunch, but not at dinner, although diners can perch on the stools and have their wine opened while they wait for a table.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the restaurant is the large mural that graces the front right-side wall of the dining room. The Tinaris' eldest daughter, Leah, a working artist who also teaches at Parson's School of Design in New York City, painted the collage of expressive faces.

"I thought, the most important thing to me is my family and my friends, and what better way than to get their photographs and have them surrounding me," says Janice. "When I go by it, I'll think, 'I haven't heard from Frank, where is he? Let me call him."'

The bistro opened Oct. 23, 2001, "and I never looked back," Janice says."