How do you feed a family with one vegetarian, two demanding careers, three young children and a hectic schedule?
“We do a lot of takeout,” said Michele Wallerstein, the mom, vegetarian, financial analyst and major fan of the Thai Tofu Curry at At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek Cafe. It’s the dish she gravitates toward whether she’s out for a business lunch or on a date with her husband, Dan, a physician at St. Luke’s.It’s not that Wallerstein doesn’t cook at all. But with her husband often working late, she’s often solo with the kids at suppertime. Kid-pleasers of the mac and cheese variety start to become a tad too familiar.
MEETING MICHELE
I met Wallerstein at the cafe at 11:30 a.m. Friday, a time she suggested to get ahead of the lunch rush. We grabbed our menus at the front register, seated ourselves and were greeted within minutes by a waiter ready to take our orders. Besides our Thai curries, Wallerstein chose an iced tea; I asked for the fresh-squeezed lemonade (fresh-squeezed grapefruit and orange juices also were touted on the chalkboard in the foyer).
Whether she’s scanning the takeout menus or heading for an occasional dinner out with her husband, Wallerstein said she’s looking for “pretty much anything ethnic … They [ethnic restaurants] seem to have a lot more vegetarian options. Beijing [Restaurant] is our favorite takeout place. And we like Taste of Saigon and Thai Krathong, too.”
Like the Asian restaurants she favors, Wallerstein finds the At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek Cafe’s menu mix appealing and appropriate for vegetarians and carnivores alike.
When our entrees arrived, Wallerstein took a few bites. “The veggies this time are cooked a little more than I like them,” she said. “But the sauce is great. It’s got a really nice kick to it, but it’s not so hot that it sends you running for a glass of milk.”
And Wallerstein offered another reason she likes the tofu curry dish. “It’s ethnic, but it’s not quite like anything they serve at the Thai Krathong,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s authentic. They use brown rice instead of white. But it’s good.”
TOM’S TAKE
A feast of color greeted our eyes as our plates were set before us. I marveled at this entree’s topography: brown rice, coated in a tan sauce, on the bottom; thin-sliced red and yellow bell peppers and julienned carrots in the middle; and chunks of deep-fried tofu poking out at artful angles, all sprinkled with contrasting white and black (roasted) sesame seeds.
Tasting this dish yielded similar delights for the palate. The base of the sauce, a version of Thai red curry, was coconut milk, peanuts and soy sauce (tamari), but it was far more complex than a simple recitation of ingredients would suggest. I thought I could detect a hint of ginger and some roasted garlic as well. The bell peppers were cooked a bit past crisp, but the carrots and broccoli in my dish retained a nice subtle crunch. The tofu also had a good texture, slightly crunchy on the outside and more firm than is the norm for tofu dishes.
This is the kind of dish I’d like to cook at home when we’re having a meatless meal. I don’t for two reasons: a) it seems too fussy and complicated and b) I’m not sure how well it would be received by the vegaphobic members of the family. Maybe it’s best sitting right where it is, on the menu of a friendly, funky neighborhood restaurant.
ABOUT THE DISH, RESTAURANT
The tofu dish is seasoned with a Thai red curry spice mix and the sauce is flavored with coconut milk, peanut sauce, lime juice, red pepper flakes and other ingredients, according to Carla Blumberg, one of the restaurant’s co-owners.
This dish is a lunch-only item, Blumberg said, but Asian-style dishes figure largely in the restaurant’s dinner menu, which also includes spring rolls with Thai lime and spicy peanut sauces, dashi stew, and Vietnamese grilled steak and noodle salad .
Blumberg said the restaurant is part of the Heartland Food Network, a program of the Minnesota Project that promotes locally and sustainably grown food. Restaurants agree to rotate their menus — At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek does so every third Thursday — to feature produce by small-scale farmers.
At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek Cafe is popular for breakfast, Blumberg said, but she’d like more dinner customers. She said the restaurant is converting its upstairs meeting/banquet room into a wine bar.
Tom Wilkowske is a food reviewer for the Wave. Reach him at atablefortwo@duluthnews.com.