Well, now that we’re over the turkey/stuffing/cranberry coma of last week, time to get ready for the next big eating holiday–Christmas. I’m going to try to steer clear of as much of the bad stuff as I can, but have a little bit and enjoy some, too.

Those of you who know me in person know that while I can appreciate fine, upscale dining, it’s not something we do every day. But when I do eat out, I want to eat something good, no matter where it is. Plus, I absolutely LOVE salad.

Not *all* restaurant reviews have to be high-dollar, pinky-in-the-air establishments, now do they?

Yesterday I headed to my doctor in The Woodlands, TX, a 50-mile drive from my front door. Long story as to why I see a doctor up there, but rest assured the drive and the expense are totally worth it. As I frequently do when I head to The Woodlands, whether to see the good doctor or to a concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion, I make it a point to try and have a meal at Sweet Tomatoes, which is in the Woodlands Mall parking lot.

If there’s a Sweet Tomatoes nearby, and you’ve never been in it, you don’t know what you’re missing. Of course, you should really *like* salad if you go there. Not that they don’t have cooked food, because they do, but. . .it’s a wonderful salad assortment.

There are four locations in the Houston area, none of which are near me. With my luck, one will appear the minute I move to The Woodlands and they’ll close The Woodlands’ location in order to open up one in my current ‘hood. But no danger of me moving anytime soon.

So what’s the big deal about a soup & salad place?

It’s not like a plain old salad bar–in addition to freshly cut vegetables, beans, cooked pastas, chopped eggs, shredded cheese, different accoutrements and variant salad dressings, they also have seven different freshly made soups daily, baked things like focaccia, pizza, cornbread and biscuits, and a few nice baked desserts. There was also some sugar-free chocolate mousse, which I passed on, as I’ll explain in a minute.

Warning: the brownies and muffins are SQUARE. I dunno why, they just use a square muffin pan. I don’t ask why. Don’t be alarmed. If this concerns you, there is soft-serve yogurt in vanilla and chocolate, cone optional.

Just because I could, and there were some cracker-sized pieces, I had a couple of pieces of the focaccia and one little piece of the pizza. DELISH, especially when I dipped the focaccia in the Italian Minestrone Soup. I only had a little of that, too.

Something odd I just noticed on the online menu: their delicious chili is “Not in Texas.” Wondered why they didn’t have any yesterday. That’s interesting–they usually have some incarnation of either beef or turkey chili when I go, but I guess because nobody bought it or folks complained about the beans. I agree–no beans belong in a true chili. But it’s good, or it was the last time I had it.

They have some featured tossed salads every month, and yesterday it was a tasty apple and walnut concoction with dried cranberries. A regular favorite is Joan’s Broccoli Madness, which is cooked broccoli with some delicious dressing, raisins, dried cranberries and a little garlic. FABULOUS, and I make sure I have some every time I go.

And that’s why I passed on dessert yesterday. Who needs chocolate and/or cranberry muffins when there are apples and walnuts and raisins and dried cranberries in your salad?

A couple of years ago I went to see Chicago at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion, and stopped in for some food before the concert at that same place. It was June, when Chicago seems to make it to Houston. It was the most incredible salad ever. I even called my brother to tell him about it. Why?

They put CHERRIES in my salad. YEAH!

The “salad du jour”, the month’s feature salad, much like the apple-walnut-cranberry number they had yesterday, had CHERRIES mixed in with the spinach and lettuce. I think there were walnuts or almonds involved, too.

I love cherries. It was SOOO GOOD. You don’t expect to bite into fresh cherries while eating salad, but it’s great when you do. I hope they bring it back in the summer so I can have it again. If I go up to The Woodlands. Or one of the other locations.

They always have something called “Wonton Chicken Salad,” which I don’t mess with because of the fried wontons; don’t know what’s in those. But on the online menu, it says, “Vegetarian in Tucson, AZ.”

Huh?

Someone explain to me how a chicken salad can be made vegetarian. I didn’t ask while I was there, I was too busy with the roasted garlic dressing and the sunflower seeds sprinkled over the top of the dressing. (That’s fantastic, BTW.)

The design of the Sweet Tomatoes restaurant is clean, with subtle colors, and a carpet patterned with. . .tomatoes. No kidding. I didn’t think to take pictures, but their carpet has a tomato print. Well, what do you expect, plain Berber?

The dining area is simple, with tables and booths and open areas where the food is. (The Woodlands’ location seems to have lots of employees buzzing  around and picking up used dishes when you’re not looking. Then again, it wasn’t crowded when I went, either.)  Clean dishes and utensils are stacked everywhere, so you never have to go looking for them. In addition to soft drinks (and my favorite–water) they also have coffee. I’ve never gotten around to actually having their coffee because I’m too interested in the salad bar, or a bit from the bakery.

Really, if you have one nearby, and enjoy the soup and salad thing, go have some. It’s fresh, it’s tasty, and all those veggies are good for you, you know. Eat what you know, and maybe try something new on a small plate. At Sweet Tomatoes, it’s all good (at least, every time I’ve ever been there.)

Happy Dining!

Last week I was in Delray Beach, Florida, where I’ve been twice before for the annual Copywriters Bootcamp sponsored by American Writers & Artists, Inc. (AWAI) While the food is always wonderful, there was one occasion where I left to find some.

You see, it was my birthday, and after one of the presentations, everyone scattered. I decided I would have a great lunch and some great dessert. (Boy, did I.)  I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning. . . .

On prior trips out of the conference, I walked past Boheme Bistro a few times, but kept going because I thought it might be too expensive. During the first two trips, I was on a company expense account. Anything unusual could be considered fraudulent, or at least raise an eyebrow. Since my manager was so nice to send me, I made absolutely certain that there was nothing unusual about my credit card receipts.

The conference started at 1:00 pm Wednesday with a luncheon, so that morning, I decided I’d do my souvenir shopping. (You just can’t go wrong with a) coffee cups, b) T-shirts, and c) fridge magnets. I love them all.) Great little walk up and down Atlantic Avenue, but about 11:00 am, I started getting hungry. REALLY hungry. I went into a hotel about six blocks from the beach and was curtly told by someone at 11:10 am in the snack bar that breakfast was over promptly at 11:00 am. I said, just as curtly, “Thank you” and walked out.

I went past the Boheme, thinking they would tell me the same thing, but turned around when I saw a bakery sign. I asked the lady about breakfast, and she invited me in. (It was now about 11:15.) I didn’t want to look at a menu, take a table, I really just wanted some food. (At this point, I almost didn’t care what it cost, since it was my own credit card being used.)  She suggested what they call “Grandmother’s Style Eggs.” I said, “OK.” I had a seat at the bar and they brought me a glass of water.  I waited patiently. A little longer than fast food, but not very long. You can’t rush these things.

What they brought was the kind of picture-perfect dish you see in magazines–which I forgot to take a picture of, because I was THAT hungry.  In addition to three scrambled eggs with chopped tomatoes and onions, there were what they call “home potatoes.” I normally don’t eat potatoes, (high in starch) but I couldn’t resist these. I would ignore chocolate for these potatoes. Red (aka “new”) potatoes, perfectly cut into a very large dice, and fried up with the crispiest outsides ever. They offered me ketchup, but I declined. It would have ruined these potatoes. All they needed was salt.

Trust me when I tell you I was the happiest cat in the kingdom at this point. I finished off this delicious creation and paid my tab. I wanted to go back to the Boheme before I left Delray Beach, and on Friday, I got my chance.

Friday, October 26th. My birthday. Everyone sort of scattered after the session I was in ended, so I went off on my own to the Boheme. Why? Partly because I knew they wouldn’t do that embarrassing birthday thing they do in chain restaurants. I hate that.

Like a lot of people, I enjoy Italian food, but I don’t eat much in the way of pasta. I used to. But now I save it for special occasions, like dinner at someone’s house, or. . .my birthday. I love tortellini, and prefer to have it on my birthday. Most restaurants have ravioli, but no tortellini, so that’s what I had at Boheme. It was, of course, delicious. Take a look:

Happy Birthday. . .to me!!

I know I shouldn’t have–I really shouldn’t have–but I asked about dessert. Since it was so early in the day, all the desserts were in a small fridge case in the back. So I looked at all of them (from a distance) and decided to have that chocolate mousse-y thing. The nice waitress had to take the plastic off the sides.

But for my birthday, in a wonderful place to be, I thought it was appropriate:

Yes, it was delicious. No, I did not share. Yes, I ate the whole thing. No, I did not lick the plate (but was greatly tempted.) Yes, it was worth the calories. The little whipped cream stars were a nice touch.

The place is a comfortable, rustic building, with indoor and outdoor seating, and a nice big bar, complete with a huge selection of wines and liquors. (No, not at 11:30 am.) It’s comfortable, with a friendly staff who will tell you anything you want to know. The kind of place you wander into like I did for a bite to eat and maybe a drink.

Highly recommended, and I can’t wait to go back. Thanks!!!

You can find more about Boheme Bistro at their website, http://bohemebistro.com/