cafe castagna

When I’m on a deadline I have this bad habit of not eating all day until I finally get a head-
ache. Yesterday was one of those days. J came over early and we were slamming to get a bunch of stuff out the door. Finally at around 4 o’clock—before the headache showed up, but not before we became horse-eating hungry—I had to go to the bank and run some other errands. On the way back up Hawthorne, we spied Cafe Castagna moaning her plaintive siren’s song. At that point the minivan goes all “Herbie” (the “Love Bug,” not “Fully Loaded”) on us, swerves across two lanes of traffic and pulls up to the front door! Not wanting to get in an argument with a strong-willed minivan, we grab a couple of stools at the zinc bar where the lovely and charming (and newlywed) Suzanne is tending bar (that's her in the fuchsia blouse). To purloin my buddy Bruce’s apt analogy, a good bartender is like a trusted closer in a tight game; some things are best left to the professionals. Suzanne at Cafe Castagna is Cy Young material.

At any rate, J talks me into a mojito, (I had my heart set on a caipirinha but they were out of cachaça). Don’t get me wrong, I've had a mojito or two in my day, (you can hardly throw a metrosexual down the street in the Pearl without hitting someone sitting at a café table sucking on a mojito while they blab on their Razr) but Suzanne DID something to this one that took it to a whole new level. You couldn't scrape the smiles off our faces with a cell phone—and that's before our burgers even hit the table. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why they were so quick with bread…

There are so many things that go into making a memorable eating experience; the food could be stellar, but if your server has a stick up their burro, chances are pretty good that's all you’ll remember. The thing that keeps you going back to Castagna is the fact that not only are owners Kevin and Monique two of the Holy Scribes of the Stumptown restaurant scene, they also manage in the process to be two of the most gracious and humble humans beings. The staff is a perfect reflection of this attitude toward eating; everyone there is enjoying themselves.

I love that flippin’ place.