Vinaigrette offers healthy, delicious salads, sandwiches, sides
Vinaigrette offers healthy, delicious salads, sandwiches, sides
Vinaigrette isn’t just a salad restaurant.
It has elevated the salad to an art form, but it has more to offer than just a field of greens.
Vinaigrette is the vision of Erin Wade and is the second in a growing chain of saladcentric restaurants in the area: The first is in Santa Fe, and the most recent is in Austin, Texas. All three source most of their produce from their own local farms (Albuquerque’s comes from Wade’s Nambé farm), but that doesn’t mean the place serves boring, bland, healthconscious food. The flavors are actually delicately mixed, and the recipes seem well-tested.
The menu is mostly salads, both sweet and savory, but they also serve homemade soups, sandwiches and desserts.
The “Nutty Pear-fessor” ($12.75, plus $5-$9 for a protein) is a generous portion of fresh greens, grilled pears, a tangy dressing and some nuts. Despite wildly different ingredients, all the salads start to look alike, and none of them is particularly photogenic.
There’s a lot of “Which one did you get?” heard around tables at Vinaigrette.
The “Pear-fessor” comes with crumbled bacon, blue cheese and toasted pecans. The port wine-based dressing is an entirely original creation and seems like the perfect way to tie all the ingredients together sweetly but subtly. And what the lemon-herb chicken lacks in portion size it more than makes up for in flavor.
The restaurant serves homemade focaccia bread with extra-virgin olive oil while you wait for your entree, so there is no way you will leave hungry.
And salads aren’t the only entrees. Vinaigrette serves gourmet sandwiches and homemade soups as well, and its appetizers take health food to the next level: The fried green beans were unforgettable. Fresh green beans are lightly breaded in a powder of citrus flavor and herbs, so the breading barely clings to the green beans. The tartness and saltiness made these possibly the best green beans I’ve ever had.
Vinaigrette, in fact, changed several things about my perception.
I was expecting a salad restaurant with a limited selection and high prices. Instead, Vinaigrette is a fullservice American eatery with a focus on healthful and organic ingredients. What it doesn’t grow itself it buys from vendors it trusts. Considering
that everything is as fresh as possible and prepared to order, prices aren’t out of line.
Vinaigrette is also a healthy alternative to cooking during the holidays, and it makes a perfect spot for entertaining out-of-town guests, especially those with dietary restrictions.
Vegans and vegetarians will be in heaven at Vinaigrette, one of the few exciting restaurants in the state that cater extensively to their particular diets. Carnivores won’t leave hungry, though, as several protein options are available, including grilled pork tenderloin, seared tuna, grilled flank steak, lemon-herb chicken breast, duck confit and tofu.
Reservations are accepted but not necessary. The service is great, and the atmosphere is modern, clean and happy, despite being housed in a building that looks like it may have been an auto garage along historic Route 66.
Vinaigrette is open every day, and it offers a seriously impressive catering menu as well. The housemade desserts, including ice creams and cakes, looked great, but I recommend the lemon cheesecake with a rich raspberry reduction sauce. It tastes like a cross between cheesecake and a lemon tart.
Vinaigrette is “slow” food that tastes good and is good for you, and even though you’re paying for freshness and expert preparation, it doesn’t feel like a waste of money.