A lot goes into this little place

There's small. Then there's tiny. Then there's pipsqueak. And then there's Dalu.

How minuscule is this East Cambridge takeout-only restaurant? From the street, the main tip-off that it exists is a door in a wall. It's so easy to overlook that even after visiting once, I had trouble finding it a second time. When two customers arrive simultaneously, it feels crowded.

Such a wee place has to be smart about its selection of food. So since opening a few months ago, chef-owner Dalu Arruda has continued to tinker with her menu as she figures out what sells, what ingredients she has room to store, and what dishes are too ambitious for her limited space. Even though she advertises pizzas, for example, they'll soon come off the menu because they proved too difficult to make in the cramped work area.

Soups ($2.95-$4.95), salads ($5.95), sandwiches ($6.25-$6.95), and hot entrees ($6.95 lunch, $8.95 dinner): That's the compact menu you'll find at this compact place. Still, it's impressive what Arruda, a talented cook who used to be chef at the Kendall Cafe, can do with little more than a convection oven and sandwich press. Her Brazilian heritage influences her cooking - entrees are served with black beans and rice, and the delectable beef turnovers are common in South America - but the food is an amalgam of cuisines.

She makes an excellent boneless Jamaican jerk chicken that's perked up with cloves, cinnamon, allspice, cumin, coriander, and hot peppers, as well as a tangy pulled pork roasted with garlic and onions. Chicken Italiana, a light and healthful dish, is a generous serving of chicken breast tenders stewed with artichokes, tomatoes, and black olives. Skip the shrimp Criola; the previously frozen shellfish is bland and soggy.

The chili isn't meaty enough for my taste - the beef is finely ground, not chunky - but Portuguese kale soup is loaded with ham and linguica and naturally thickened with potato. Each soup comes with one of Dalu's exquisite cheese rolls, which have soft centers and golden-brown exteriors. Dense, moist, warm, and chewy, they're made with tapioca flour, which means they're gluten-free, and they're the most delicious creations I've tried in a long time. Better yet, they're only a buck apiece, and for $2.50 you can have one turned into a mini-sandwich.

The full-size sandwiches are served on marvelous house-made focaccia - big, plump rounds of bread brushed with olive oil and herbs. My favorites are the Roosevelt, with chicken breast, pesto, feta, and artichoke hearts; and the Harrington, with turkey, Swiss, cranberry chutney, caramelized onions, and green apple. A grilled eggplant sandwich called the Willow has potential, but it's overwhelmed by an excess of flavors, including goat cheese, pesto, roasted garlic spread, and sun-dried tomatoes. For a sandwich, it's just too busy.

Arruda is so focused on high quality that she once insisted on charging me half-price for a day-old cookie; let that be a lesson in superior customer care to every bakery that has knowingly sold stale pastry at full price! Another time, she remade a sandwich after realizing she had assembled it using two sliced focaccia tops, rather than a top and a bottom. Be forewarned: That perfectionism can make for slow service, so don't visit if you're in a rush.

If plans to expand next door pan out, Dalu may not be a li'l tyke for long. Until then, Arruda is adapting best she can to her modest quarters.

''My mother always said, 'Don't start from the top step, start from the bottom,''' she recalled. ''So that's what I'm doing.''