Welcome to Paradise A first-time restaurant owner creates his own Eugene Oasis WORDS BY KATRINA NATTRESS | PHOTOS BY TODD COOPER Norm Lent is not a gourmet chef. He is not striving to impress the city of Eugene by serving food with names you can't pronounce. This first-time restaurateur is all about keeping things simple. (Clockwise from left) Norm Lent, Okon Udosenata and Shea Imhof Al the Arowana "We are who we are. People want more sometimes. but we just offer simple things, and that seems to work for us," says the 55-year-old owner of downtown's recently opened Paradise City Café. "We want people to feel welcome here, appreciated." The island-themed café on Willamette Street is inviting. Because the building's landlord won't allow Lent to put a large sign outside, he put up massive umbrellas (they look like the ones you get in a tropical drink) and a tiki statue instead. According to Lent, the hardest thing about opening a new business is getting people in the door, and having exotic aesthetics definitely helps spark the interest of potential customers taking a stroll down Willamette. What was originally supposed to be an exotic little coffee joint has quickly become a full-fledged café. The menu includes breakfast and deli sandwiches, an array of salads and soups (mostly homemade) and their trademark rice bowls (the most popular is the teriyaki chicken, though Lent favors the salmon noodle bowl). Paradise City Café staff pride themselves on their smoothies and milkshakes, which are all-natural, no flavorings, 100 percent RDA Vitamin C, Kosher certified and contain no corn syrup (in other words, they're reasonably good for you!). The café's signature smoothie is the Tropical Nirvana, a delectable blend of mango, papaya and guava. Lent admits that the café is not 100 percent green and local, but he says he's trying his best to use recycled materials (such as bowls made from recycled glass) and buy from local vendors: coffee beans from Wandering Goat, Viridian and Caffe D'Arte and pastries from Bread Stop. The café also uses cage-free eggs. Though downtown has been under a barrage of discussion recently, Lent is happy with his location. He feels downtown is the place to be right now for businesses. "It's ripe for development," he says. "It needs to capitalize on community." Lent is doing his part by creating a friendly, relaxing atmosphere in his café. He spends 10 hours a day at Paradise City and knows most of the customers by name. "I hate it when you go to a store regularly, and the employees don't even take the time to get to know your name. We want to be personal here."     Paradise City Café is located at 861 Willamette St. 242-3315.           PARADISE CITY CAFE | KEKAU CHOCOLATES | LESSER KNOWN FOOD CARTS | THE DEVINE CUPCAKE KOBE BURGERS | THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES | BRENDAN MAHANEY | CHOW SHORTS | WORD IS …