[ExtraMSG]

My wife and I had dinner at Nutshell last night. After two BBQ places for lunch, I needed something cleansing.

The place is expansive. It's like a bowling alley. You need binoculars to see the back wall from the front. The open kitchen is fronted by a set of six or eight wood booths. Behind and above the booths are giant murals of Nutshell's logo: a King Kong sized gorilla. The front wall sits six feet or so above the sidewalk and has a roll-up front. That's where we sat.

I've already posted the menu above, so I'll jump right in to what we ordered:

We started with an assortment of bread that came with baguette, pugilese, and a multigrain. We got an Italian olive oil and three salts to go with it: a smoked salt, a volcanic salt, and a "premium" salt. Didn't grab one of the salt/oil/bread service menus so I'm not sure of their names. They did have some tasting notes on the olive oils, but not on every table. I would have liked the same for the salts. I was a little disappointed the naan wasn't on the assortment. The three breads were good, although their crusts were a little soft. They didn't give much olive oil when it first came out. It actually pissed off my wife a little since we were paying for the oil. However, later we asked for more oil and they brought it out and didn't charge us. I enjoyed the two specialty salts more than the more standard premium salt. Costs: $2 for bread, $1 for the oil, $1 for the premium salt, $.50 for the other two. Total: $5. There was a lot of bread there. Too much for two people.

We both got a shot of soup, the lettuce, chervil, and lemon chilled soup. It had a little olive oil drizzled on top. Good refreshing flavor with a nice vegetal sweetness, a little brightness from the lemon, and fruitiness from the olive oil. Tasty.

My wife started with the watermelon salad. She was disappointed to see that it looked like the watermelon had been sitting around, the corners of the chunks rounded and the texture a little soft. I thought it was fine, but primarily just a big plate of watermelon. There were some red onions and shredded mint tossed on top, but the ratio of watermelon to those items was high enough that you only got those flavors occasionally. I'd like more mint, minced. Perhaps they could combine some flavors into a syrup and vinegar dressing so that you felt like you weren't just eating plain watermelon. There was a dressing, but it was all on the plate and didn't stick to the watermelon.

I started with the yam stuffed orange. It's not so much stuffed as topped. This was my favorite item of the night. The yam had a good soft, but chunky texture, like mofongo, with a light orange and coconut flavor. The orange comes warm and juicy. I would have liked it to be cut inside such that I could have dug out the orange easily and eaten it, too. As it was, it was too much of a pain, so I didn't eat it, just the yam.

My wife then had the grilled pineapple and avocado sandwich. It also had grilled sweet onions. The bun was a bit blah and had a weird texture. But I enjoyed the goodies inside. And the bamboo fries are indeed terrific: very crisp, light, nicely seasoned, a bit more interesting flavor than potato fries.

I got the raw lasagna. It's a napolean of pine nut ricotta, pistachio pesto, sun dried tomato puree, heirloom tomatoes, portobellos, and sliced zucchini. It's bright and fresh tasting. The sun dried tomato gives it some depth as does the "ricotta". It's probably a bit small to be a true entree. With it being all nuts and veggies, it's not going to be as filling as a noodle and cheese and meat lasagna. This was my second favorite item.

We split a empanada for dessert. This we weren't too thrilled by and was our least favorite item. The filling of banana, coconut, and quince was fine, though could have been more intense. The pastry was doughy and bland. Didn't seem cooked enough. Not good. And there was too much of it relative to the mild filling. The "sweet potato jelly" on the side seemed more like sauteed yams with something sweet and crusty. The sour lime sorbet was REAALLY sour and intense. A bit gooey. It totally overpowered everything else on the plate.

A hit and miss meal. Given that it's not too expensive, I wouldn't mind going back and exploring. But there's still work to be done. Our server didn't seem very experienced. She seemed discombobulated. I'm sure that will get better over time, though.

Photos:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_album.php

Yam-stuffed Orange


Lasagna

[craig]

ExtraMSG, on Aug 18 2007, 06:40 AM, said:

A hit and miss meal. Given that it's not too expensive, I wouldn't mind going back and exploring. But there's still work to be done. Our server didn't seem very experienced. She seemed discombobulated. I'm sure that will get better over time, though.

A comment and a question. Our server Tue night also seemed inexperienced -- not necessarily as a server but she wasn't familiar with all the dressings, for instance, which could be part of it being a new restaurant. But, I'd expect her to taste all of them till she had them down and two weeks (or so) is plenty of time to do that. Also, I ordered an IPA and they were out so she suggested another beer. I didn't look at what it was and just took her word for it. It turned out to be a wheat beer!??? I have no idea why she thought that someone who liked an IPA would want a wheat beer.

Glad you tried that dessert. It was going to be the next one I tried but it sounds like both the chocolate and the grilled pineapple desserts are better.

A question about the hit and miss meal comment. I find that true about almost all places I eat at -- especially if they have a variety of flavors. It can all be well made but some flavors will be to my liking and some not. If I am going to frequent a restaurant, there need to be enough things that I like to want to go back. (This is true of Nutshell -- I didn't enjoy everything but I loved plenty of what I had.) So, does "hit and miss meal" reflect inexperience with how the menu interacts with one's taste or something else?

I am ready to go back any time someone wants to go.

[vj]

The server Tuesday night didn't have a clue. I really don't think she had much waitressing experience, nor a real grasp on the menu. The first time I was there, I was served by the FOH manager, Cindy, who was a real pro and a real pleasure.

I love what Nutshell is trying (and in many ways succeeding to do). Still, I'd like to see some changes.

- as noted, the beer and wine selections are limited. Since they aren't only serving vegan beer and wine, why not expand the collection a little? Also, there was a wine list and a wine listing on the menu. Why both? It's confusing. And the way the wine list is set up, the icons denoting vegan, biodynamic,etc, further muddy the flow of the eye.

- the airplane hangar set up makes the noise levels high, and the music really contributes to that. I'm assuming the cooks want to hear the music, so why not have the music immenating from the kitchen, with maybe a few speakers on a lower volume through the restaurant.

If you sit by the garage door, the noise level is really tolerable. But the wooden booths, dear god. Speaker placement and some noise-baffling could make a big difference there.

- I don't know how to set up the menu to make it less confusing and more readable, but I suspect there are designers who specialize in such a thing. Getting a basic design template means that they could continue to print new menus as they make changes, but perhaps their customers wouldn't need so much time with the menu.

- I'd love to see the olive oil and salt descriptions on each table. I found the olive oil descriptions really really helpful in choosing an oil.

- I'd love to see salad dressing descriptions on the menu. Just cuz. These aren't your usual caesar, italian, 1000 island, bleu cheese, so folks are going to need to know what they are. Are they creamy, garlicky, oily, lemony, tahini-y, or based on another nut or seed butter?

- I don't understand why there are two salad categories and three entree categories. How about going with the so-2002 small plates and bigger plates? (though things like the vichyssoise and the lasagne are a lot richer than they initially appear). And stews - is it an entree, or what? It looks like it. So what is it doing in its own category?

Sean, Karen, Cindy, are you listening? I love your place. I just want to see it be a smidge more accessible.

[Amanda]

The avocado and pineapple sandwich sounds lovely! I'd love to give that a try sometime.

Best regards,

Amanda

[ExtraMSG]

Quote

A question about the hit and miss meal comment. I find that true about almost all places I eat at -- especially if they have a variety of flavors. It can all be well made but some flavors will be to my liking and some not. If I am going to frequent a restaurant, there need to be enough things that I like to want to go back. (This is true of Nutshell -- I didn't enjoy everything but I loved plenty of what I had.) So, does "hit and miss meal" reflect inexperience with how the menu interacts with one's taste or something else?

To a large degree, I think most experienced diners can distinguish between something that doesn't fit their palate and something that was improperly made or misconceived (the latter being tougher). And I think I can do a better-than-average job of guessing whether something would be enjoyable to a different palate.

So when I say it's hit and miss, I don't just mean that there were some things I liked and some things I didn't. I mean that some things worked and some things either need to be worked on or taken off the menu.

[ExtraMSG]

Quote

And the way the wine list is set up, the icons denoting vegan, biodynamic,etc, further muddy the flow of the eye.

Even though I wasn't drinking wine, looking at this I remember thinking that it looked like some cryptograhpic puzzle from Games magazine.

I think you give a lot of good suggestions, VJ. And for emphasis: the servers really need to know what the food is like and be able to describe it.

[tammi]

VJ you make a great deal of sense on all points! While they work on ironing out the quirks (and I hope they do) I wouldn't mind trying to figure out more items on the menu for myself. I'm up for lunch Thursday maybe? Craig?

[Lelonopo]

I had lunch here today and it was fantastic. Sitting in the open area at the front we had perfect weather for outdoor seating but not too exposed to the outside, and our service was great. Really informative, helpful and attentive, even at lunchtime. I had the grilled pineapple/onion and avocado sandwich on the 100-grain bun: the bread is made at the restaurant and the flavor it brings to the sandwich is superb. The fried bamboo shoots were crispy and tasty. My client had the living lasagna and it was beautiful: looking and tasting. I loved this place and will definitely return: there's nothing I hate more than faux meat products (blecht) and it's so refreshing to eat in a vegetarian place like this.

[vrunka]

I went last Friday night and the place was mobbed! Judging from the number of people waiting, we figured the wait would be more than an hour so we shuffled off. I'm really happy for them, but I think I'll definitely avoid the weekends for a while.

[ariel88]

vrunka, on Sep 5 2007, 10:35 AM, said:

I went last Friday night and the place was mobbed! Judging from the number of people waiting, we figured the wait would be more than an hour so we shuffled off. I'm really happy for them, but I think I'll definitely avoid the weekends for a while.

I biked past here at about 8pm last night (Friday) and they were also slammed, so I was inspired to come on here and look the place up. Glad to see you guys have beaten me to the punch. I'm very interested to check it out.

FWIW, I was having lunch at Little Red Bike Cafe today, and the guy from Courier Coffee (who supplies LRBC and Nutshell) said that Nutshell had let go most of its waitstaff and was starting over with new people. Unfortunately I don't know how long ago that was and whether it applies to the folks who said their servers were inexperienced.

[vj]

ariel88, on Sep 8 2007, 02:18 PM, said:

FWIW, I was having lunch at Little Red Bike Cafe today, and the guy from Courier Coffee (who supplies LRBC and Nutshell) said that Nutshell had let go most of its waitstaff and was starting over with new people. Unfortunately I don't know how long ago that was and whether it applies to the folks who said their servers were inexperienced.

Interesting. I mean, I think there's a couple issues there. Inexperience is one, but training in the front of the house is another, and it's huge. I mean, give me an inexperienced server that's had training on the menu, on what things taste like -- I'd much that, than an experienced server that doesn't know the menu. THough the last couple times I've been in, it seemed like these poor kids had neither experience nor training, and had just smoked before starting work.

Here's hoping things get better!

[craig]

Interesting. The server stuff is weird. How can any restaurant not have its folks taste the food, especially one that has non-typical dishes?

I stopped by for lunch a couple of weeks ago and noticed that some of the prices had risen. Since I didn't have a prior menu, I couldn't be sure but I think the Living Lasagna went up $2 and some other things a $1. Not big changes but it makes the Living Lasagna compete with full lunches at other places and entrees at a lot of places. Not that one can get vegan gourmet all around town but I since I already thought it was pricy, I wonder if I will buy it again and try other things instead.

[keittiomestari]

You have to remember the price of veggies and fruit is always changing. Perhaps something is up with the harvests right now....

[tammi]

Craig,
When we all ate there, the lasagne was 11.00 (I took a menu) and it still is. I just had lunch there last week also. My server was quick and seemingly bright except she forgot to bring me water after being asked twice Also they will do a side of those bamboo fries for 4.00. Nice!

[alma]

I had lunch there today. I've been on this anti-inflammatory diet for a long while so it was a real treat to eat there and be able to have so many choices.

I had the micro greens (for $6) I think, and the Locro de verduras - an Argentine highland grain stew of hominy, stewed grains and veggies (for $9).

I liked both dishes a lot. The micro greens were simple (little piles of about 5-6 different kinds of tiny greens)but seemed a pretty good deal after I went to New Sesons and saw that a little package of one type was $1.99. So they can't be making much money on those. The stew was very flavorful (maybe a little salty) and had several little piles of steamed veggies (greens) sitting on the top. It was nice to eat the spicy stew with different flavors of greens. Each bite was a little different from the last. Plus, I was really full afterward which is lovely since I am a bottomless pit since I've been on the anti-inflammatory diet.


Service was fine on a slow Sunday afternoon. I liked it. I'd like to eat there all the time though I can't really afford that! It is spendy but not for the ingredients they are using which are very fresh and very "clean" and I imagine their bottom line is not low.

[craig]

tammi, on Sep 9 2007, 04:35 PM, said:

Craig,
When we all ate there, the lasagne was 11.00 (I took a menu) and it still is. I just had lunch there last week also. My server was quick and seemingly bright except she forgot to bring me water after being asked twice Also they will do a side of those bamboo fries for 4.00. Nice!

Weird. When I was there (about two weeks ago I think, the Lasagna was $13. Glad to hear it is back down. I wonder if it fluctuates with the price of something or if they were experimenting with price or it was a typo or something else.

[Markovitch]

probably them tasty tomatoes--prices on those vary wildly from week to week.

[ExtraMSG]

I'm interested to see what they do going into winter. Going to be tougher.

[Amanda]

Root veggies and cabbage rolls galore! Lots of earthy stuff, I reckon. And maybe good use of dried fruits that were harvested from summer in curries and such. So many events and so much good food out there. It just makes me wish I were independently wealthy so I could go to every great place. I do hope I can get to Nutshell soon, though...along with several other places.

Best regards,

Amanda

[tammi]

ExtraMSG, on Sep 11 2007, 10:09 AM, said:

I'm interested to see what they do going into winter. Going to be tougher.

I was wondering about that too. I'd like to taste more of his soups, given the potato leek was so damn good!
Hmmm better get in for one last call for living lasagne before its gone huh?l