Greens

www.greensrestaurant.com

Visit date: January 07

What’s that saying? If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But people should know...

So here’s the website blurb:

We opened in 1979… Greens Restaurant was a pioneer in establishing vegetarian cuisine in the United States. In the 60's and 70's, vegetarian restaurants were mostly small out-of-the way cafés. There was no high profile vegetarian restaurant in the United States. Greens changed that by raising the bar, by placing vegetarian cuisine on a level with other fine dining restaurants. We have been reviewed by food and design magazines from the time we opened. Today we are surprised if a good restaurant does NOT have vegetarian options. Greens helped pave the way for this acceptance.

Executive Chef Annie Somerville has earned a national reputation for her imaginative approach to vegetarian cooking. Somerville is a popular teacher of cooking classes throughout the Bay Area, and is the author of Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant (Bantam Books, 1993) and Everyday Greens (Simon & Schuster, 2003). Her works have also been featured in many publications, including Gourmet, Food and Wine, Ladies Home Journal, and Vegetarian Times.

Let me preface by saying: I love vegetables, all kinds of veggies.

And yes, we own the Field of Greens cookbook. I’ve never opened it, but Steve and another friend have both used it and like it. I don’t doubt this but eating at the restaurant tonight, I give it a C+.

It’s been a few years since I’ve eaten at Greens, but the memories are pleasant enough to stir cravings in the last couple months. And with the in-laws here for their annual visit from Columbus, Ohio, this weekend is the perfect chance to kill two birds with one stone – satisfy my craving and do something special for my mother-in-law. She’s not a vegetarian, but prefers to stick to veggies, tofu, grains, and fruit to accompany her crazily intense exercise regimen.

Sitting down, our group of four is packed like sardines because the tables are so close together. The waiters are nice but the whole operation is just too mechanical – our appetizers arrive exactly two minutes after ordering – get us in and out as fast as possible.

My mother-in-law genuinely says the food is good with great nutritional value. All the while, I’m extremely regretful we can't revisit my experience at Dirt Candy because it's in New York, and that we didn’t go to Millennium (which I've been to a handful of times and it's never disappointing). Greens is not as imaginative as I remember it to be. Especially for the prices we pay, the plates look uninspired, not memorable and paired with as many vegetables as possible just because it's a vegetarian restaurant. Just look at the 100 word descriptions for each dish. Perhaps there's a method to the madness, but I'm just not comprehending tonight.

I guess this is what happens to restaurants after 30 years. This is also why restaurants need to close after some time. It might be sad to have a good place close, but closing even temporarily for renovation/reinvention/refocus of the overall vision is good. Only better things can come out of it.

Yukon gold potato griddle cakes with masa harina,

 jalapenos, smoked cheddar and cilantro. Served with

creme fraiche, fire roasted tomato and pumpkin cilantro salsas

Fresh spring role with frilled tofu, carrots, jicama,

watermelon radish, Thai basil, mint and rice noodles.

Served with lime chili sauce, radish and grilled beech

mushroom salad

The spring rolls may have been made today, but the mistake of making them too early and refrigerating ruins the texture of the rice paper.

Wild mushroom shepherd's pie with caramelized onions,

gruyere, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and pinot noir

mushroom sauce. Served with roasted carrots, cipollini

onions, parsnips and brussel sprouts

Tagine winter vegetables with tomatoes, chickpeas,

ginger, saffron, cilantro. Served with cherry almond

pearl couscous, grilled artichoke with lemon oil and mint

Tagine astes like Chinese sweet and sour with some saffron thrown in. O, and let’s just throw the artichoke on top for a lil something more.

Fire roasted poblano chili with quinoa, butter squash,

peppers, grilled onions, pumpkin seeds and Achadinha

goat Jaaak. Served with tomatillo sauce, fired roasted

tomato salsa, ranch gordo beans, grilled Mariquita Farm

sweet potatoes with chipotle lime butter

Farro spaghetti with roasted butternut squash,
County Line rainbow chard and kale, almonds, spring onion,
Hamada Farm raisins, brown butter and grana padano