Under the tree
Cafe Prego’s patio offers a delightful, unhurried vibe.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of columns that will focus on the atmosphere of a restaurant or bar in central Arkansas.
A few minutes after ordering, the smell hit.
A whiff of fresh, hot focaccia bread getting stronger and stronger as it headed toward our wooden booth on the patio of Café Prego.
The plate arrived and we indulged in a full-sized order of the appetizer while taking in the patio’s quirky décor.
A colorful, but peeling, statue of a pelican.
A large, green highway sign uselessly pointing the way to Beaches.
A tall patio heater rendered unnecessary by the 70-degree weather and just enough breeze to occasionally send a leaf floating into our dish of olive oil or onto the seat beside me.
Christmas lights were strung on trees and trellises, and though many of the bulbs were out, the effect was endearing.
We seemed totally separate from the constant activity of runners, dog walkers and shoppers on Kavanaugh Boulevard.
Inside the restaurant, with hardly an empty piece of wall space to be found, there’s even more to see. Scenes from old movies, family photos and neon signs would be enough conversational fodder for anyone on a nervous first date.
Out on the patio, an older couple looked to be many years past that nervous first meeting. They ordered glasses of wine and sat next to each other looking cozy.
She cuddled up to him, smiled and said, “I’m glad you suggested this.”
Two middle-aged men at the table next to me ordered glasses of the 7 Deadly Zins. They were so intrigued by the name, the waiter felt compelled to say, “You guys want a bottle? You’ll have more wine.”
They agreed and soon the waiter was at their table uncorking a full bottle.
Also drinking wine, two women — each with their own bottle — spent some time catching up on the patio. Reclined in their chairs and smoking, they were settled in for a long evening of talking and drinking.
I discovered they were regulars.
Hope Tate and Lesli Griffin, have a “girls happy hour” at Café Prego with a few other friends as often as possible, but tonight it was just the two of them.
Tate has been dining at the restaurant for 10 years.
“This used to be my first date place,” she said. “We would have birthdays here, and I got engaged in that room over there one time,” she said pointing to an enclosed room just off the patio. I didn’t press her for more details on the “one time” engagement phrasing.
As a regular, she has a favorite table — the one under the tree that occasionally sends a leaf into the olive oil.
“It’s over there where you’re sitting,” she said. “You guys took our favorite table.”
Though without her preferred booth this time, she said part of the reason she keeps coming back is the service.
“That waiter over there is the best ever,” she told me, pointing to the one who just sold a full bottle of 7 Deadly Zins. Maybe he used his waiter-learned powers of suggestion to entice her into purchasing a full bottle, too. But from the way Tate talked, I surmised she’s a regular full-bottle buyer.
At another table, regular Mica Turner also has her own bottle of white wine resting in a silver bucket of ice.
Sitting across from her, Clay Brooks is drinking a Prego concoction he calls a Dr. Black. He and co-owner Louis Petit came up with the drink while trying to find something other than Coke to mix with Brooks’ whisky.
“It’s Johnnie Walker Black and Dr Pepper,” he said. “I just don’t like Coke.”
The two of them dine at Café Prego at least twice a week — and love it that the wait staff knows their orders before they sit down. Their favorite table? The one under the tree that wafts an occasional leaf into the olive oil.
I think we’re on to something.
Overall, at Café Prego, the food is as light and relaxed as the conversation, and dinner is seemingly an unhurried affair.
Fortunately, the customers are friendly and don’t mind strangers sitting down at their table to ask them a few questions.
But the main thing we did learn from this excursion: Don’t miss a chance to try the tiramisu.
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