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PROVIDENCE — There was a definite buzz in the air about Café Longo on Federal Hill over the past several weeks. Suddenly a lot of people seemed to be talking about it in highly favorable terms … and chef-owner Jerry Longo had opened it just five months earlier!
Longo is well known in food circles. Previously he was vice president of marketing at Foxwoods and helped friends establish restaurants in Fort Lauderdale and Las Vegas. His family once owned a pizzeria, so he has always been around food and had always dreamed of owning his own place. Having grown up "between Philadelphia and Rome," where he often stayed with the family's Italian branch, the dishes he serves are from old family recipes. In fact, Café Longo is a family affair with Longo himself cooking alongside cousins Luigi and Anthony, with help from his mother — try her Supli! — and wife, Connie, who makes the homemade desserts. "We don't have a big freezer, so everything is cooked fresh to order," Longo said in a later phone call. Apparently word quickly spread that something special was going on in the compact little eatery that once was a flower shop.
Space between tables is tight, allowing not much breathing room for the bustling team of efficient waiters who also must deal with a full service bar on one side of the room. Reservations are not taken (there are only 13 tables plus a few outdoors in good weather), but Longo does put names on a wait list, though he said he can only hold tables for 10 minutes past the appointed time. Because of limited space inside, those dying to get in stand on the sidewalk waiting for a table to open up, even on weeknights.
Yet despite close quarters, Café Longo has a very airy feel what with its clean, modern design, tall open-out windows and silvery tin ceiling.
Rather than the tourists, suburbanites and T-shirted college-age kids you'll find dining at restaurants down the street or in De Pasquale Plaza, the crowd at Café Longo's seems to be a part of "Old Federal Hill." Most everyone was middle aged and nicely dressed; several tables had men huddled in conversation. A lot of diners seemed to know one another or the staff. The two people next to us each got complimentary slices of delicious-looking pizza, which is not on the menu but which Longo says he gives away to those who've waited long to be seated. The couple next to them got a take-home package even before they'd ordered and the woman got a big kiss from Longo and one of the waiters. Frank Sinatra was the singer of choice over the sound system. The four flat-screen TVs hung around the room were showing Analyze That, in which Robert De Niro plays an emotionally rattled gangster, although the soundtrack had been silenced.
Café Longo's dinner menu is pretty straightforward, with several specialty pastas — spaghetti with red or white clam sauce, orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sweet sausage — plus veal parmigiana, chicken marsala, chicken piccata and nightly specials that on this visit included baked Alaskan halibut, filet mignon au poivre and a pork chop topped with broccoli rabe. The appetizer menu held surprises, including a South Philly home-style cheese steak with sautéed sweet onions and melted American cheese served on a crisp roll (which sounded like a meal in itself); twin homemade meatballs alongside an "Old School salad;" something called "Eggplant on the Hill," and Supli, described as "my mother Liliana's Arborio rice balls centered with fresh mozzarella over a mixed-greens salad!" It all sounded so good, perhaps because the descriptions of all appetizer items end in exclamation points.
A glass of prosecco ($9) and Café Longo's only signature drink — the Del's on the Hill Martini ($10), which tasted like a Del's Lemonade with a kick, but minus the shaved ice — got us started, along with a basket of Italian bread with olive oil for dipping, though we had to ask for grated cheese and red pepper flakes to snazz it up.
Those appetizers lived up to their exclamation-point billings. The Eggplant on the Hill ($12) was a mountainous stack that had breaded and lightly fried eggplant slices at its base, then sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, lots and lots of Arugala and shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar, just enough to add sweetness without overwhelming any of the other flavors. A wonderful blend of sweet, salty and tangy, the dish was enough for two diners.
Yet we couldn't resist the billing on Liliana's Supli ($9), which also turned out to be beyond expectations. A pair of lightly fried egg-shaped rice balls, they were crispy on the outside, mouth-wateringly moist on the inside with the slightly chewy rice hugging a gooey melted mozzarella heart.
Just as I was thinking Federal Hill had a new dining destination, Robert De Niro barged in. Suddenly the TV volume was cranked up alarmingly. Everyone in the restaurant stopped to watch the scene in Analyze That in which De Niro insults a couple in a car dealer showroom. The crowd laughed approvingly. Then the TV sound went off, replaced by Sinatra singing again. Only this time the volume was still at the TV's ear-piercing decibel. How loud was it? So loud that I found myself shouting to my dining companion two feet away. So loud that I considered getting our entrees, which were still in the kitchen, to go. Shortly afterwards, however, the volume was lowered to a more ear-friendly level, our entrees arrived and happiness reigned again.
In a later phone call Longo said his regulars like it loud. He turns the volume up later in the evening. "That's our thing. It makes us different. It's a concept I started four years ago in Fort Lauderdale." He says that on weekends some tables are removed for dancing and there often are sing-alongs. "We play to the crowd. We do it our way. It's not your normal place."
Both entrées were superb, plate-filling portions of veal parmigiana ($23) and chicken cutlet with broccoli rabe ($20). The pounded-thin chicken had been breaded and lightly sautéed, then topped with a mound of deep green rabe, its slight bitterness offset by the heady flavor of shaved provolone. On the side was a deliciously mild and very creamy risotto that added its sweetness. The parmigiana was a thin slice of very tender veal that had been breaded and lightly sautéed, topped with an excellent, temptingly rich San Marzano tomato-basil sauce and melting fresh mozzarella. It was accompanied by homemade, surprisingly light gnocchi topped with the tomato sauce. Both the veal and chicken dishes had toasted Italian breadcrumbs prettily decorating the edges of the plates.
For dessert, the homemade canoli ($7) was a crunchy horn with a wonderfully sweet cream filling dotted with mini chocolate chips and drizzles of caramel and tapioca sauces on the side that gave it an extra zing.
A friend had raved about the banana cake ($7) on a previous visit, so we had to try it. It filled the large plate end to end, looking as though it were an entire cake. On closer inspection it turned out to be a portion of a log-like cake that had been cut into narrow slices, with rounds of fresh banana added between, then topped with very creamy banana frosting and whipped cream. Thoughts of the tropics sprang to mind.
But then as we paid the bill, the mood was shattered by Michael Jackson blaring over the once-again cranked-up sound system. Before we were treated to a Jackson retrospective we "Beat It" with fond memories of the meal, but the soundtrack still clanging in our ears.
Café Longo, 154 Atwells Ave., Providence. (401) 228-6550. cafelongo.com. Dressy casual. Wheelchair accessible, but with very tight table space. Child seats. There's a call-ahead wait list. AE, MC, V, DIS. Complimentary valet and on-street parking. Open 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Mon.-Sat. Appetizers $9 to $16. Entrees $20 to $36. Wines are $8 to $11 by the glass; $32 to $145 for a bottle.
Dinner for two at Café Longo might look something like this: Del's on the Hill Martini…$10.00 Prosecco … $9.00 Eggplant on the Hill…$12.00 Veal parmigiana…$23.00 Chicken cutlet with rabe…$20.00 Banana cake…$7.00 Total food and drink…$81.00 Tax…$6.48 Tip…$16.00 Total bill…$103.48
