ON THE SIDE
Leaf
Gourmet salads on Second Street
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Virtuous dining and high-flavor profiles don't always go hand in hand.
But at Leaf, a new fast-casual restaurant specializing in gourmet salads in the Second Street entertainment and retail district, healthy eating and bold tastes pair up in many appealing ways.
Laura Skelding photos AMERICAN-STATESMAN
At Leaf you can pick from several premade salads, such as Abbi's Asian chicken or make your own from a wide selection of ingredients.
Leaf.
419 W. Second St., 474-5323.
Rating:Forks up.
Price: Cheap.
Diners can compose their own salads from a long list of fresh ingredients and 20 homemade dressings or choose from a dozen predesigned salads. From those combinations, each of four hearty salads was a winner.
Abbi's Asian chicken salad ($8.99) combined cabbage, carrots, grilled chicken, edamame, green onions, mandarin oranges, toasted almonds and crisp chow mein noodles in a sesame-ginger vinaigrette dressing. With the crisp cabbage base, it's a salad that should hold up well for dinner if you don't finish it off at lunch. (And these generous salads, served with a slice of bread, are a filling meal by themselves, even for a less-than-petite diner like me.)
The niçoise ($8.99) salad mixed albacore tuna with spring greens, hardboiled eggs, tomatoes, green beans and black olives in a red wine vinaigrette.
The avocado BLT ($8.99) takes the basics of a bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich and adds my favorite accompanying ingredient: avocado. At Leaf, this version of a BLT begins with romaine lettuce, bacon and tomatoes and is augmented with avocado, grilled chicken, cheddar cheese and cucumbers tossed in ranch dressing.
The Italian chopped salad ($9.99) features spring mix, sliced salami and prosciutto, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, red onion, hardboiled eggs, pepperoncini, fresh basil, pine nuts and provolone cheese. It was served with a low-fat Italian dressing that wasn't nearly as appealing as the red wine vinaigrette on the niçoise. Next time, I'll have that.
With that extensive variety, Leaf is the kind of place that can encourage repeat visits without constant repetition — one more virtue of the place.
