Soup Friday: Cafe Fresco - Chicken Chili
And just like that, a new season of Soup Friday has arrived. During my lunch break, I walked on 2nd Street and saw another business has closed. It feels like every time I stroll down 2nd Street another building is being boarded up. Like the city of Harrisburg, 2nd Street feels like a shell of its former shelf. The city is deteriorating, yet leadership and high prices remain.
I eventually ended up at a classic lunch spot, Cafe Fresco. The menu contained two soup options: chili and the more elegant, poultry-forward chicken chili. Without hesitation, I picked the latter. I love a traditional chili, but in my opinion, a traditional chili does not count as soup. As a dignified gatekeeper of soup, I permit stews and chowders to fall under the soup umbrella, but I refuse to acknowledge chili’s existence on Soup Friday primarily due to its lack of broth, stock, or cream. Despite its nomenclature, the chicken chili is a broth-based soup and thus is qualified to be reviewed. To quench my thirst after a long walk of two blocks, I ordered a soft drink as well.
I feel like I can still smell Sawyer’s even when it’s closed and I’m inside another building across the street.
After filling up my clear plastic cup with Diet Pepsi, I sat at a table and observed three things.
1. The Diet Pepsi was flat.
2. The atmosphere in Cafe Fresco resembled that of a downtown Harrisburg restaurant on a Friday in 2019 or earlier. About 70% of the tables were taken, conversation flowed amongst the diners, and a worldwide pandemic was off everyone’s radar. The number of people surprised me mainly due to the fact that the commonwealth employees, Harrisburg’s largest group of workers, predominantly telework on Fridays. Perhaps, they decided to come in because my first Soup Friday destination got leaked and they wanted to see it live.
3. The bar Sawyer’s stared longingly at me from across the street. Quickly approaching, next Wednesday is Thanksgiving Eve, Blackout Wednesday, or whatever you may call it. I’ve spent a few of those Wednesdays at Sawyer’s for their penny drink nights. On top of one-cent drinks, your $20 cover payment also allows you to experience acute claustrophobia while you and one hundred other people wait in a small tent run by four bartenders in charge of serving everyone watered-down cocktails containing a penny’s worth of liquor. As I recalled these fond memories, a few questions popped up in my mind.
Will Sawyer’s even be open that night or will the city force them to close for precautionary reasons?
If it’s open and my friends wanted to go, will I want to go to penny drink night?
Am I getting too old to go out that specific Wednesday of the year?
I placed a pin in those questions as I heard my order called out to my left and a plate suddenly appear in front of me.
The dynamic duo.
The blue bowl in front of me released a welcoming aroma. On its side, a square piece of cornbread was nestled into a wax wrapper. On top of being a zealot for soup, I also take pride in being a devout fanatic for cornbread. In my book, no matter if the soup pairs well with it or not, a piece of cornbread on the side will always raise the soup’s rating by at least half a point. I drove my spoon into the soup. The broth provided a pleasing flavor. The added spices amplified the broth’s boldness. In a complementary effort to the spices, the beans provided a neutralizing effect to prevent the soup’s spiciness from being too fierce. I imagined a Goldilocks situation here. While I found it to be just right, spice enthusiasts would crave more heat and some white people, including my own melanin-deficient family members, would vigorously wave their hand next to their overwhelmed mouth to express, “whooo this soup has the quite the kick!” The tasty chicken and vegetables also augmented the overall flavor. However, for an $8 small bowl of soup, Cafe Fresco’s chicken chili was denied access to the upper soup echelon due to it lacking another primary element. Whether it was another ingredient from a traditional chili or something else, I am not entirely sure. However, what I am certain of is that this will be the greatest Soup Friday season yet!