Seven days without pizza makes one weak

When Katherine Zeller opened Café Amore, she had a six-year-old boy who proclaimed that they served, “The best pizza in the galaxy.” That compliment stuck and has for many years been used to advertise the casual dining Italian restaurant known for going a step above to source the best ingredients for great tasting food.

After 17 years of operating Café Amore at 2070 E. Van Buren, Zeller has put it up for sale. She has mixed feelings about leaving the restaurant crew of ten to 12 people—depending on the season–who have been like her children.

She bought the restaurant on the Fourth of July, which is also the birthdate of Eureka Springs. While she is a trained chef, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy who started working in the restaurant business when she was 16, that first week after opening was crazy.

“I saw a lot of operations before opening Café Amore,” Zeller said. “I would say one of the things that makes it strong is to have a strong team. Play as a team. Coach them as a team player. Anything I ask them to do is something I do myself, like cleaning out the grease trap.”

Early on she upgraded the menu by making a lot from scratch, changing the pizza dough, changing the red sauce and using fresh garlic. Garlic goes into everything except the desserts. She used her pastry experience to perk up desserts.

Until about six years ago, Zeller was wearing plaid shorts and Hawaiian shirts at work. Then she switched to wearing her red chef coat and having people on the floor wear black shirts for some uniformity. Rare for most owners, she started waiting tables ten years ago.

“I started doing it and I really liked it,” Zeller said. “It was a different stress level than being in the kitchen. I felt like I could run the restaurant from that vantage point. I could see what was going on in the kitchen, as well as on the floor. I had more contact with the staff that way whereas, when I was in the kitchen, I was kind of locked into the kitchen. And I love to hug people. That started being part of the deal. Before Covid, we were hugging on everyone. We were hugging people’s babies, and watching their kids grow up. Locals would come in wanting hugs. They would bring us their guests and relatives when they came to visit. It was very family-like.”

For the most part, they have been open from 4 to 9 p.m., depending on the season. At the beginning of Covid, after the shelter-in-place order was lifted, they worked from 2:30 to 7 p.m. because she wanted her crew to get home before dark.

“During Covid, we were able to reinvent ourselves with a to-go and delivery business only,” Zeller said. “That kept our staff really safe. Locals would buy a $25 pizza and give us a $50 check. We were able to survive while closing down indoor dining for 410 days. We survived it.”

The rainbow flag has been flown at Café Amore for a long time. When the flag got cut down a couple times, she would replace it with a larger one. One was so big it was flying into traffic, so she had to back off a bit.

 She hopes to attract just the right new owners for the restaurant that can seat 75 people.

“Amore has a talented kitchen crew that can teach a new owner how to make everything on our menu,” Zeller said. “I will be available to train, also. I priced Amore to sell. It will be a great opportunity to be your own boss. I love that part. It is a great location in Eureka Springs.”

Finding parking can be a challenge at restaurants in Eureka Springs, so Café Amore shares parking with Sweet and Savory next door, which serves only breakfast.

“Her people park in my place in the morning and my people park in her spots at night,” Zeller said. “We have been really lovely neighbors.”

What will be next? Zeller said she has been praying about it for a couple of years, but admits she has no idea. She is planning on staying in Eureka Springs, buying the house she’s living in, and finding something part time. She is happy to share her knowledge about running a business.

“Everyone thinks I was going to move to Colorado and be close to my girlfriend, but I’m not going to move somewhere the rent is triple,” she said. “I love Eureka Springs. I have a huge family here, a huge family. I imagine my future will be helping somebody. That is sort of my nature.”