Route 2 in Warwick is awash in chain restaurants — from Bickford’s to Burger King, and Lone Star to Denny’s. Smack dab in the middle of all these is the non-chain Fat Cat Deli & Café, actually a sister restaurant to Narragansett’s Turtle Soup and MoJoe’s, brand new on Providence’s Broadway. Fat Cat opened last August, jumping in with both feet as a lunchtime/take-out deli and a suppertime café. The eatery has a beer and wine license, with some good choices by the glass.

Stepping into the long, rectangular space from the shouting neon of the nearby strip malls is a calming experience. With avocado and light aubergine walls divided by white woodwork, and with admirable restraint in the cute kitty motif, Fat Cat is inviting and welcoming. Dark wood tables are spread with white linens, and tea candles are lit for evening diners. The half-dozen window-side spots acquire extra warmth from the yellow-orange glow of small lamps that hang from the ceiling.

The menu is extensive for such a small place, with a proclaimed emphasis on "world cuisine." In the appetizer section alone, crab rangoons, pot stickers, and coconut shrimp draw on Asian influences; the Parmesan-ed pita chips, the sautéed mushrooms and shallots, and the Tuscan toast hark to European sources. The eight salads carry through on the international theme: curried chicken and shrimp with couscous, a Greek salad and a panzanella salad.

Calling the grilled pizzas "pizza pies" either points to the Italian-American roots of Fat Cat’s owners — Linda Cinco, Amy Streeter, and Donna Kennedy — or to the simple fact that a large proportion of Rhode Islanders have become acculturated Italian-Americans, i.e., we love our pizza pie. And what’s not to love about the six choices here: pesto, seafood, Caribbean, chicken, bianco with sausage, and "white & green"?

We began our culinary graze with the panzanella ($6), the white & green pizza ($6), and a cup of the carrot soup ($2). The presentation of these dishes is every bit as hip as the restaurant’s décor. The "cup" of soup is served in a bowl whose white porcelain rim is as wide as the small cavity in the middle, a fitting frame for the dreamy orange puree. The pizza is cut into six slices, with two overlapping the others on the square white plate so that there’s room for a small mesclun salad in one corner.

Looking at all these starters, we wondered about tackling entrées, but we dug into our "work" with professional zeal and planned on take-out for the major portion of the meal. The pizza was delectable, with an alluring garlic taste to its white sauce, nicely toasted mozzarella over ricotta, and bite-sized pieces of the green spinach and broccoli. The salad was less successful. The baby greens and romaine were crisp, the provolone slices plentiful, but the house-made focaccia chunks needed to be crisper before they hit the balsamic vinaigrette, and they should marinate longer in the dressing.

Fat Cat prides itself on serving free-range chicken and pork products, with free-range beef available upon request. (Although there are currently no federal standards for "free-range," as there are for "organic," it’s generally taken to mean that the animal’s feed does not contain antibiotics, pesticides, hormones, or steroids and that the animal does, indeed, range outside the confinement of a stall.) The chicken preparations include marsala with cremini mushrooms, mascarpone with onions and peppers, grilled squab chicken, and chicken pot pie. I ordered the mascarpone incarnation ($14), and the combination of red and green peppers, carmelized onions, and soft cheese was tasty, though the pounded chicken breasts themselves were not as succulent as I’d hoped for.

Skimming past the veggie lasagna and the fresh seafood dishes, Bill landed on the vidalia meat loaf ($11), which our wonderful waitress Rachel mentioned is a lunchtime favorite at the deli. Two large slices were smothered in a rosemary tomato sauce and came with mashed potatoes, plus steamed summer squash and carrots. Bill found the meatloaf great comfort food for this long cold winter.

Fat Cat makes some of its own desserts and gets some from a local vendor. Passing over its house-made turtle cheesecake (and the begging look in Bill’s eye), I opted for the house-made brownie with vanilla ice cream ($6). The brownie was warm and fudgey, the homemade chocolate sauce was fine, but I wish that for this simple and oft-served dessert, restaurants would accompany such a good confection with good ice cream. Spring for the B&J, folks!

Nonetheless, Fat Cat puts care and creativity into its food, and the deli offerings are quite tempting — with many more variations than the cookie-cutter chains. Plus, the Fat Cat staff enjoys the food, and it seems to make them friendlier. Not super-sized, just satisfied, like any good ole fat cat.