Cafe Paragon

Ever visit the town of Providence in the wonderful state of Rhode Island?

You might have stumbled upon the Cafe Paragon in Providence?

In 1997 I found myself in a bizarre situation. I was having dinner with friends at the good cafe, afterwards was ready for a night on the town. Well I was told, 'we're staying here'. I was like, 'huh, this is a restaurant...'. I was told, well you'll see.

Cafe Paragon is a TRANSFORMER.

It was unreal. At the specified hour, the tables were moved to one side. The music was turned up. And let the games begin!

At least the night that I was there, I got the impression that it was the weekend home to Providence's international set, you know the mix: warm weather Euros, the rich Arabs, the token Swedes, and random South Americans.

At first I held back, not quite sure what to make of the 'transformation'. However when the Greek owner stepped on the bar with a high stack of plates and started smashing them on the floor, while the music thumped that 90's classic "p-p-p-paragon, pa-pa-paragon..", I thought to myself, 'Hmm, everything may just turn out alright after all!'.

You can't judge the good Cafe, you have to just go with it. It was a bizarre scene and in the end it made for a memorable night.

10 years on I'm talking to a co-worker today, who turns out attended Brown University in the aforementioned town of Providence, RI. The first thing I asked was whether she knew of Cafe Paragon? Her reply: "Of course, the transformer!"

Ha!