As I was walking home without a sketch yet, I walked through Little Italy and passed by this cafe. It had a great big window out to the street and a few people sitting on the benches out front. No need to hit me over the head and tell me that was a sketching opportunity!
So I went in and discovered, through the numerous customers coming in, that this truly was a neighbourhood cafe. Gina, the counter woman pretty much knew all the names of the customers coming in and they her. She also added a few personal touches like giving a free canoli to a lady who was working in an adjacent restaurant or givng an extra helping of pasta salad to Ronald at no extra charge, who seemed like another local to the neighbourhood.
This definitely was a place where everybody knew your name.
