2901 E. Madison Street
Seattle, WA 98112
Phone: 206.325.9100
http://www.cafeflora.com/

I have been meaning to try Cafe Flora for years but like many restaurants on my “must try” list, I just hadn’t made it. Too many of my favorites just got in the way, and being strictly vegetarian cuisine, it’s not a place that particularly inspires my husband. This week (after the stop at City Peoples for the chocolates and other goodies), my daughter and I gave it a try for lunch. We sat in the atrium, which was comfortably warm, a nice contrast to the freezing drizzle outside. The whole atmosphere was cozy without being dark, earthy without being granola. After a making a tough choice on the menu (there were too many things I wanted to try), we ordered the Quesadilla Verde to share as well as the French Dip (with a mondo portobello mushroom) and yam fries for Cole and a warm pear and Stilton Blue cheese salad for me. The waitress quickly brought us bread, cute little herb rolls that I wished had been warm but were still nice. These were quickly followed by our quesadilla which was perfectly drenched in lime cr?ɬ�me fraiche. Inside the crisp tortillas was a mash of yam and jack cheese, with a gorgeous tomatilla salsa verde perched on top. The whole warm combination hit all the key tasting points - a little spicy, a little sweet, a little salty and a little pungent. Cole graciously let me eat 3/4 of it… I could have ordered another one. I did restrain myself from licking the last bits of cr?ɬ�me fraiche from the plate.

Our mains arrived soon after we demolished the quesadilla. Cole’s sandwich was enormous, with a seed-crusted french bread and a satiny, beefy portobello mushroom. I tried a bite dipped in the accompanying broth, and by taste I would never have guessed it was vegetarian. The yam fries were a bit on the soft side, but excellently seasoned. My pear salad was tasty, although didn’t live up to the quesadilla. The cheese was heavenly, but the pears a little limp and the roasted chestnuts lackluster. Despite this, I did enjoy the meal, and would definitely go back for lunch again.

One other plus about Cafe Flora - they have a cookbook, so you can learn to make the quesadilla at home. Perhaps, I’ll do that instead…

“Cafe Flora Cookbook” (Catherine Geier, Carol Brown)

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