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 end up at a classic lunch spot, Cafe Fresco. The menu contained two soup options. One was chili and the other was the much more elegant 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. I let stews and chowders 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 am 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 resembles that of a downtown Harrisburg restaurant on a Friday in 2019 or earlier. About 70% of the tables are taken, conversation is flowing amongst the diners, and a worldwide pandemic is off everyone’s radar. The number of people surprises 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 stares 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 drinks that only costed one cent, your $20 cover payment also allowed you to experience claustrophobia while you and one hundred other people waited in a small tent on four bartenders to serve everyone weak cocktails. A few questions pop 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 hear the name of my soup called out in my left ear and a plate sat 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 is nestled into a wax wrapper. On top of being a zealot for soup, I also take pride in being a devout fanatic for cornbread. 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 dove into the soup. The broth provided a pleasing flavor. The 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 imagine a Goldilocks situation here. While I find it to be just right, spice enthusiasts would crave more heat and some white people like my family members would dramatically wave their hand over their mouth to express themselves being overwhelmed by the soup’s kick. The tasty chicken and vegetables also augment the overall flavor. However, for a small bowl of soup that costs $8, there’s still a noticeable element missing from putting Cafe Fresco’s chicken chili in the upper soup echelon. Whether it’s 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!