Wine and Dine Week Jun 12 – Cafeteria 15L

For our second stop on Wine and Dine Week, we visited Cafeteria on L. After having read the menu, it was clear that I needed to check it out. I mean, seriously? The entire menu sounded delicious, plus it included wine. And, at $36.99 a person, it’s quite a steal. Combine this with the fact that Monday is half -off-bottle-of-wine night and I certainly can’t say “no” to that kind of a deal! One of my personal faves is Kali Hart chardonnay.

I admit it, I’m a sucker for amazing tots… and this place has them! So long disgusting, overly oily and mushy high school tater tots and say hello to crunchy, perfectly seasoned tots with truffle oil, herbs, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and a ramekin of house made ketchup, of which I’m not a fan, but who cares with tots like this! They certainly stand on their own.

For the first course, Strawberry Gazpacho with local strawberries, basil, olive oil, croutons. I’m not a big fan of gazpacho, but this was okay. I was worried it would be extremely sweet and be more like melted sorbet, but it was nicely balanced. The sweetness and flavor of the strawberries were the stars of the show, but it was offset with just enough savory to make me not dislike this gazpacho.

Also was a Panzanella Salad that was really quite delicious. It featured grilled foccacia, with tomato, cucumber, red onion, and burrata, and was dressed with a delicious basil vinaigrette. Naturally, I liked this better than the gazpacho, but it stands out excellently on its own.

Paired with these was a pinot gris from Acrobat by King Estate in Oregon.

The entrees were really good! First off… Gnocchi! It was a lovely summer dish with zucchini, summer squash, cherry tomato, arugula, and parmesan. It was a hearty portion that also served me well the next day for lunch!