California
Tender Greens: “It Tastes Like Fall”
It is now the end of the year, and one of the things I do at the end of every year is go on an intense diet to prepare for the barrage of cookies, candy and egg nog that hits me during the holiday season. Being on an intense diet makes it hard to go out and eat. I’ve found myself staring wistfully at other people’s loaded plates and cocktails as I munch on plates of vegetables and sip on water.
So yesterday, when we decided to make the trek to Culver City to see a movie, rather than brave the certain madhouse that would be the Grove, I decided we would have lunch at Tender Greens, since that would put me and husband on even footing when it came to choosing meals. That was before I knew about the delicious sounding sandwiches, which my husband generously avoided ordering so I didn’t have to watch him eat it.
The vibe of the restaurant is clean, healthy, and modern. With the shiny wooden floors, simple design, the big menu on the wall and the neatly laid out pre-prepped ingredients behind the open counter and simple, easy to prepare meals, I could easily see this as a chain along the lines of Jamba Juice.
My eye was instantly drawn to the specials posted on the counter. I’m a sucker for specials. One was a braised short rib sandwich that sounded amazing, but was way outside the constraints of my diet, which for the next few days is limited to all things vegetable. The other special was a roasted parsnip soup, which was perfectly wintery and quite vegetable-y as well. I decided not too ask too many questions about how vegetarian the soup was, and decided in my head that it was parsnip pureed with a vegetable stock. I don’t really know, though.
I ordered the soup ($4) and to accompany it, chose a “simple salad” of red and green butter leaf lettuc with a dijon vinaigrette ($5). To drink I had a jamaica (hibiscus) agua fresca. My husband ordered the cobb salad, which is a “big salad.” ($10).
The big salad was big all right. This was a turkey cobb with blue cheese dressing, bacon, tomato, egg, and romaine lettuce. Each salad came with a big crouton, which I reluctantly had to give away. It looked really good.
The simple salad was just that–very simple, consisting of just the lettuce and the dressing. What surprised me was that it was as big as the “big” salad. That’s a lot of lettuce. Anyway, there’s not much too this. If you like butter lettuce, then it’s a fine salad for you. I liked it. There wasn’t too much dressing, which is the number one salad killer for me.
And finally, there was my soup. The soup was really good, it tasted, as my huband said, “like fall.” Parsnips look like a big beige carrot and taste like a cross between a carrot and a potato. Parsnip was a staple before the potato was introduced and many common potato recipes used to be parsnip recipes. Parsnips are sweeter and than carrots and were often used to make not only starchy dishes, but cakes and jams as well. Parsnips soften faster during cooking than carrots and potatoes and are definitely nice for making soup. This soup was warm and had the thick, starchy consistency of a potato soup, cut through with a crisp, carroty vegetable flavor of the parsnip. It was definitely a nice cold weather soup.
The final verdict? For “going out,” I would probably pick Ford’s Filling Station next door. But for a quick and casual lunch, this place is great, and I would love to have one near work. I like that they have seasonal specials, since I could see myself growing tired of the menu. All of the ingredients seem fresh, and I like that you have your pick of simple salads that aren’t loaded up with stuff. The price was a bit high ($5 for lettuce and dressing, $4 for a cup, not a bowl, of soup), but at the same time, I felt like I was paying for quality ingredients and a nice atmosphere, so I felt like it was worth it.
Tender Greens
9523 Culver Blvd.
(310) 842-8300
11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Closed Mondays
http://tendergreensfood.com
By KT (see more of her posts). You can find more of KT's writing at her own website Gastronomy 101.
Discussion
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Yeah, we need more places to get a really great salad — especially when you think of how easy they are to create. Okay, maybe not easy, but not difficult either.
My beef with Tender Greens is that they close at 9pm. And that they’re in CC. Why can’t there be something like that closer in and open till 10pm? Hmph.
Tender Greens uses great ingredients…excellent greens and other produce. But I wasn’t impressed, especially with the prices. Is Tender Greens worth the money? If you don’t mind paying $10 or more for such a salad, yes. I thought the salads were a bit on the meager side for the price. And I’ve had better salads for less. I’d go elsewhere.
GMatsuda: Fair enough. Where is elsewhere, though? Growling stomachs want to know!
^ Meg I know a fantastic place but have no idea if it is handy to you at all. They do the most incredible salads (and sandwiches) side salads and dressings I’ve ever tasted. EVER.
HealthyCA on Lankershim Blvd, Nth Hollywood.
Not open at night nor on the weekends, though…
Also, salads aren’t really that easy. They are fiddly and it takes a fair bit of preparation to build a balanced and complex meal, plus a delicious dressing. We do eat them often at home for dinner. But when you buy a good salad, you get the benefit of lots of little detail (extra varieties of vegetables) that you probably wouldn’t extend to at home because you aren’t making more than one salad that day.
Thanks — I’ll file that away. Since I work in the deepest darkest burbs, it’ll be a while before I have a chance to try it, but try it I will.
I agree that a good salad isn’t easy, but it is mainly a question of attention (plus ingredients, as GMatsuda noted). I guess what I was getting at is that it’s not a friggin’ cassoulet: there’s little excuse for restaurants not to offer a couple of fabulicious salads.
As I’m eating my “happy vegan”–my new fav from tender greens–i just have to remind you that tender greens serve free range, hormone free meats, and produce from sustainable farms. that’s always worth an extra buck or two.
p.s. try the tomato soup…to die for.