The Romance languages are not named for an association with amorous behavior, also there are certainly plenty of stereotypes to that effect, but more for their descent from the language of the Roman Empire, Latin. The result is that the current five major Romance languages often have variations of essentially the same word for common concepts. One of those is hunger, which is faim in French, fame in Italian, fome in Portuguese, foame in Romanian, and hambre in Spanish. In Uptown Phoenix, the Fàme Caffe has a name loosely derived from those words.
With its extra accent mark, Fàme (pronounced fa-may) doesn’t map exactly to any current language, Romance or otherwise, but it incorporates a number of southern European influences, along with some local Southwestern flair, into its menu for breakfast and lunch foods served in a rustic yet urbane atmosphere. The restaurant is found at the southern end of a shopping center at Central Highland that has long been a home to local restaurants, including JL Patisserie and Persephen, as well as a variety of independent businesses and stores.
The location is halfway between the Central/Camelback and Campbell/Central stations on the B Line, just a bit north of the Grand Canal, which separates the Midtown and Uptown areas of Phoenix. Bike racks are found right outside the restaurant next to some outdoor tables shaded with umbrellas. The restaurant operates with a counter service model with a few twists. Customers consult a menu and then line up to place orders. Instead of choosing their own seats, staff then ask if guests want to eat indoors or on the patio and assign a table by number.
During the week, the process is generally a quick and efficient one; however, on busy weekend days, the line to order can become quite long. Here’s one way to avoid a wait: If dining alone or with just one or two people, sit at the small bar if space permits. It’s the only portion of the restaurant that is full service, so customers there can order almost immediately after choosing a seat, bypassing the line entirely. At either the bar or the tables, the look is one defined by natural wood tables and windows facing Central Avenue with a view of the passing trains.
Printed menus are in a holder mounted on the wall opposite the counter, and they list a variety of breakfast entrees, salads, and sandwiches. The pancakes are thoroughly American in both their preparation and copious portion size, but have a fluffy, light texture. Fruits such as bananas and blueberries can be mixed into the batter or served on top. The French toast, on the other hand, is more European. Served with fresh strawberries, it’s a traditional pain perdu preparation that emerges slightly crisp on outside but yielding and soaked with flavor on the interior.
The same “lost bread” approach is used in the Monte Cristo sandwich with fillings of ham, gruyere cheese, and a sunny-side-up egg with some sweet notes from powdered sugar and berry preserves. A croque madame combines the same essential ingredients with a more savory touch from a bechamel sauce and a side salad. Additional morning options served throughout the day include omelets, chilaquiles, avocado toast, and trios of breakfast tacos, served in both a traditional version with scrambled eggs and a vegan alternative with tofu.
A somewhat smaller but still sizable selection of sandwiches and salads follows. A classic cheeseburger is served on a buttermilk bun, and a mushroom burger offers an umami-rich alternative with toppings of mushrooms, gruyere, and caramelized onions. Both burgers come with a standard side of Kennebec potatoes. Poultry-based sandwiches replace the bun with ciabatta. Chicken pesto and Buffalo chicken are essentially the same sandwich save for the different sauces used to coat the thinly sliced meat topped with romaine, red onion, and tomato.
Turkey avocado is again similar with a substitution of one bird for another. All sandwiches come with a sweet house pickle and chips by default, although a side salad or rosemary potatoes can be substituted as desired. One outlier is the grilled cheese, prepared on white bread with thick slabs of bacon or available in a meatless version with avocado. This particular sandwich comes with its classic accompaniment, a bowl of tangy tomato soup. Interestingly, the menu promises a soup of the day, but staff say it’s always tomato and has been that way for quite some time.
Light options on the menu include the Farmer’s Salad, a big bowl of greenery that works best as a meal when accessorized with chicken or avocado. A Chicken Chop salad with poultry, bleu cheese, and a hard-boiled egg is hearty enough to be filling as is. There is only one dessert on the menu, thick slices of banana walnut bread, packaged to go but available to be warmed for on-site consumption as needed. Other items ready for takeaway include a small pantry area with ingredients, beverages, and packaged foods from national and local producers for sale.
Fàme offers a full bar with an emphasis on mimosa and other breakfast cocktails, as well as wine, craft beers in both bottles and on draft, and a complete coffee bar with espresso, coffee, and chai drinks. One original beverage, Xocolatte employs chimayo and cinnamon to augment its base of coffee and milk. Having recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, Fàme Caffe has not changed dramatically since its founding but seems to have found a steady niche to fill with a rustic, slightly European approach to breakfast and lunch near where Midtown meets Uptown.
PHX Rail Food 