Hugo’s Review: Cafe Largo

 

When Café Largo first came on the scene I remember thinking what’s something this nice doing uptown? Today that question seems out of place as Harlem has had its share of new restaurants, bars, and chain stores pop up over the last couple years. But when Café Largo opened its doors four years ago…it was an oasis amidst a desert. Truth is when Cafe Largo opened it was a perfect conduit for us neighborhood folks, City College students, and Columbia students who at that point had just begun exploring places north of 124th street in visible numbers. For reasons not too clear to me, Cafe Largo closed after a relatively short time.

Up until about a year a half ago all that was left of Cafe Largo’s memory was a white piece cardboard paper plastered on the front door that read “returnoflargo@aol.com“. I walked by that sign year after year saying, ‘Doesn’t seem likely.’ Then last year, almost like a mirage in the desert, planks of plywood started to envelope the former restaurant. Another oddity was that the plywood also covered two otherwise defunct, empty retail spaces to the left of Cafe Largo. As if answering my plea for more information, mock-up signs were propped up at marquee level announcing that two new businesses were going to materialize in those other spaces, namely Vinegar Hill and Tres Pasos. As the year went by I would see workers and ask questions about when the businesses were opening. Vinegar Hill and Tres Pasos made their debut this year with great reviews online and through word of mouth on the street. But as good as that was, I was obsessed with the opening of Cafe Largo. I inquired in January and was told that it was opening sometime in March. That brings us to the present.

Last week I emailed Stacey Calcano, one of the owners, and asked her when the big day was. She emailed me within minutes that opening day was March 30th, but that there was a pre-opening cocktail party and I was invited. You cannot imagine how ecstatic I was! I honestly had never been to such an event. I brought along my brother and a friend. We showed up round 7PM and there were a host of important looking people all over. I was a bit intimidated at first but was then quickly reassured by the fact that…this is my backyard! I live just two blocks away. A major plus was meeting our very own D.Bell from Uptown flavor! It was cool being picked off the food line by her.

I started to make a visual survey of the new digs. The place looked sexy as hell! They expanded it all the way to the back of the building with a partial view of the sky as well as the back alleys that run in between residential buildings. I know what you’re thinking…not much of a view. Perhaps, but for someone who grew up on those streets it was a journey down memory lane. I remember as a kid running through those back alleys; it was another world down there. As far as decor goes the exposed brick walls looked awesome and did not seem forced. Candles were dispersed all over the walls quite tastefully and the chill vibe was definitely in effect.

OK, so how about the food? They had set up a small food line where you would get your plate and select from the different items. I am personally of the “one-of-each” school of thought so I helped myself to all of it. They had personal-sized pizzas which were delicious. There was a scrumptious, juicy roast whose perfection was only rivaled by Brazilian steakhouses! The chicken (Marsala?) was divine! There were also pastelitos whose flaky texture and perfect seasoning made me go for seconds, thirds, fourths even! There was plenty of alcohol to keep everyone happy until the wee hours. Everything was perfect that night. I was greeted by Marc and Stacey Calcano who were the driving forces behind Café Largo’s inception. Despite the fanfare of a “grand opening” they seemed quite comfortable behaving like a normal family. Stacey performed an impromptu Macarena dance duo with her daughter as the night wound down.

Fast forward to the next day — opening night! My brother and I made our way to Cafe Largo (officially this time). They had set up their tables to cover just the first half of the restaurant. I’m assuming this was done because either the rest of the tables had not arrived yet or to gauge how many people were going to show up. When I walked in, all the tables were full! Everyone seemed to be enjoying their meals. As good as this was for business, it meant there were no tables for me or for a group of five who had gotten there before my brother and me. The wait wasn’t bad…about 15-18 minutes. One thing took me by surprise thought, there only seemed to be one waitress for what looked like 40-50 people (may have been more). I even noticed Stacey C. running around picking up plates. It seemed that when my brother and I arrived, the load was too much for the one waiter. Plus, the table we were seated at was wedged in a corner, so making eye contact with the waitress proved a bit difficult.

After waiting a while, the waitress finally made it our way and quite apologetically took our order. Shortly thereafter, Stacey, and then her husband came by to apologize for the wait, which I was very grateful for given how busy the night was. Apparently several staff (including their headlining chef) had not shown up. No stranger to setbacks, Stacey got busy making rounds to different tables distributing dessert menus and making sure that everyone’s meal was ok. In addition to those kinks, the restaurant had not yet gotten their liquor license, so they offered the patrons the option of bringing their own alcohol from the outside to have with their food. They even offered to open the bottles for them, which I thought was classy.

I ordered Chicharrones de Pollo (“fried, lightly breaded boneless chicken” is my best translation) with roasted vegetables. Having grown up in a Spanish household I must say the chicharrones were amazingly juicy and flawlessly seasoned, which sad to say, is something my own mother couldn’t pull off! Sorry, mom! The roasted vegetables were awesome; they included eggplant, yellow peppers, and mushrooms. All in all it was quite a pleasant night. When it was time to receive the check, the waitress told me that the meal was on the house. I was stunned. Even though we had waited to get seated and have our order taken, I knew that given the circumstances this was to be expected and so I took it in stride. But to have them perform such a gesture just further confirmed why I fell in love with Café Largo in the first place. They handled what would have normally amount to be a debilitating situation with an impressive amount of grace and class. I’m sure that over the next month or two everything will fall into place better. However, this should not deter anyone from coming and having a great time. This is definitely my new Friday night spot!

Do you have a review of a flavorful spot in Harlem? Email us at uptownflavor[at]gmail.com

 

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Posted in: New/Openings, Restaurants, Reviews