Skip to main contentThe light-filled Victorian that vegan restaurant Calendula once called home now showcases pastry chef/co-owner Tucker Mortensen's creations. The menu is promisingly streamlined: Often a limited offering is a sign of a attention to detail and quality. Here, this is sometimes the case.
A handful of morning items include a breakfast croissant ($9.50) with eggs, bacon and lettuce, and lemon-cream cheese crêpes ($8.50) topped, confusingly, with syrupy, previously frozen strawberries. Both dishes are served with perfectly crusted roasted potatoes and a cup of melon on the edge of turning. Lunch is more successful; a highlight is the tangy, succulent chicken piccata ($12.50), accompanied by a yeasty roll, almond-laced saffron rice and green beans sautéed with big chunks of bacon and sweet roasted pearl onions.
The pastries are all variations on classic themes: several flavors of tartes, mousse cakes, éclairs, macaroons and quiches, as well as croissants and chaussons pommes. The Plaisir cake ($5.50) tops chocolate and vanilla mousse with meringue and burnt sugar that evokes campfire marshmallows. A neon-hued blood-orange éclair ($3.25) is a fresh take on the original.
WWeek 2015