A communal scene plays out on the old wooden church pews, which function as a banquette. There’s a middle-aged man, dining alone with his newspaper. Next to him, a couple whispering over their bowtie pasta and red wine. And another seat over, a family of four chats noisily over their plates of pasta Bolognese.
Riverwest’s new centro cafehas close quarters, which suits the owners and the laid-back neighborhood.
“There’s something about being crowded together. People end up talking to the diners at the next table,” says Peg Karpfinger, a landscape architect who opened the charming 40-seat Italian bistro with husband Pat Moore in June.
Five years ago, Moore and Karpfinger bought a boarded-up building that once housed a Schlitz tavern. Using his experience rehabbing properties, Moore brought the space back to life with materials gleaned from other sources. Moore built the bar out of old doors and salvaged marble. The tabletops, too, came from reclaimed marble. Moore fashioned the glass wall tiles out of old windows.
The couple’s intention from the get-go was to make this a casual Italian neighborhood place people could afford to go often. Their head chef, Walter Williams, made that intention a reality with a menu of classic, inexpensive Italian food – bruschetta and grilled squid, 15 or so pastas (none more than $12), grilled panini and desserts like cannoli and tiramisu.
There’s a back kitchen, but most of the cooking – fun, fragrant sautéed goodness –
happens behind the bar in the dining room. Fading light from the street pools in through the roomy windows, while low-hanging pendant lights cast a glow on each table.
The inherently approachable menu is a match for the cafe and these times, but it could use tweaks. On one visit, for example, a generous helping of tender grilled calamari and scallops ($8), its lemon vinaigrette applied liberally, was followed by a rather dry meatball panini with marinara and melted fontina ($7.50). And a penne dish with tuna, capers, artichokes, lemon and caramelized onions made for an overly sour combination of flavors ($10).
Lovely, though, were the grilled asparagus spears wrapped in sheets of prosciutto and sprinkled with lemon vinaigrette ($5). (I didn’t bother fighting the urge to lick the salt from the cured ham off my fingers.) And when spread on toasted slices of garlic bread ($4), the satiny, rich white bean dip was like a legume pâté.
More successful pastas than the tangy tuna awaited me – like the hearty penne with Italian sausage, Portobello mushrooms and well-seasoned, slightly oily tomato sauce ($9); and the spaghetti with calamari, shrimp and scallops in an elegant, smooth tomato/white wine sauce ($12).
The last-moment union of pastry shell and thick ricotta cheese filling is key to a good cannoli. This dessert was that and more ($4). The filling in the crisp, fresh-tasting shell wasn’t cloyingly sweet.
For first-time restaurateurs, this couple has coaxed something charming, almost European, out of this old brick building. One night while I sat watching the cook pour steaming linguine onto serving plates, some fellow diners mentioned they drove from Mequon expressly to eat there. Just a cozy neighborhood place? Maybe not for long.
centro cafe: 808 E. Center St., 414-455-3751. Hours:Tues-Thurs 5-9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 5-10 p.m.; Sun 5-9 p.m. Prices: appetizers $3-$16; salads/soup $3-$11; panini $7-$8.50; pasta $7-$12; desserts $4. Service: a little slow. Dress: diner’s choice. Nonsmoking. Handicap access: Call ahead. Cash only. Reservations: not accepted.
