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entertaining u newspaper: your monthly guide to entertainment
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by jon bosworth and cassie larue
When there is a fancy restaurant that everyone talks about and you want to try it out, there are a number of tricks to enjoy the place, get a feel for what they have to offer, and not break the bank. Cassie and I were in the mood for some fancy food that was nearby.
Downtown has a constantly growing selection of places to eat, but we are partial to the restaurants that truly embrace the metropolitan feel of our beautiful downtown. We often go to Chew for this reason. Nothing complements a great downtown evening like a succulent meal in a contemporary atmosphere. But if we wanted contemporary, why not Café Nola in the Museum for Contemporary Art Jacksonville?
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Café Nola is a culinary gem in the center of our urban core. Keeping your tab under twenty at dinner can be a stretch, but you don’t have to eat several plates of food to take in a pleasant dining experience, especially when the food is good. Order light and take your time. The meal is only one of the fine arts available to you at MOCA Jacksonville.
If you aren’t a member of the museum and you are trying to keep your tab below twenty dollars, you may have to restrict your art viewing to those displayed in the atrium and the gift shop. But if you are an avid supporter of the arts, become a member and when you take your special someone downtown, you can impress them with your commitment to the arts and treat them to some exquisite exhibitions.
Cassie and I were in the mood for Nola, but to stay under our twenty dollar ceiling, we chose to come up in the afternoon rather than the evening. Catching a restaurant at lunch is a great way to scope out its menu, ambience, service and prices before committing to the full date. However, it did strike us as rude to try to monopolize a table during their lunch rush, so when we arrived at one in the afternoon and the place was full, we decided to take a look at some of the exhibits on display upstairs.
Cassie made a prolonged and concentrated effort not to touch the Ramen Noodle installation piece and then we took our time to savor the Contemporary Visions show which highlighted some of the more remarkable art owned by local collectors. From original Andy Warhols to some incredible Jasper Johns, this exhibit was surprisingly vital. It is hard to imagine some of these works just hanging as decoration in a private home. MOCA also pulled some treasures from its own collection to show. I enjoy how they juxtapose their Picassos with the various temporary exhibits.
By one-thirty the lunch rush was clearing out and the Nola staff was happy to seat us. We didn’t come hungry, we split a bowl of soup before leaving the house, so we took our time with the menu, coordinating our sampling to get the most flavor for our limited budget. Cassie ordered the Hericot Vert Frites, which are fresh green beans that are tempura fried and served in a stainless steel cup with a horseradish aioli. This snappy appetizer was as satisfying an indulgence as French fries, but it had the spunk of a gourmet delight. I ordered the Caesar Salad. Chef Kathy Griffin’s Caesar dressing was just the right balance of anchovy and lemon. Not too citrus-y, not at all fishy, and the dressing wasn’t overbearing. They also garnish the salad with sliced cherry tomatoes. Although tomatoes are technically not part of a true Caesar, I am always glad when I am given some to add color and give me something juicy to much on, and these cherry tomatoes were deliciously ripe and just the perfect touch of sweet to add to the salad. Kathy also serves the salad with a tasty fried crisp instead of traditional croutons, adding the perfect amount of crunch.
We took our time savoring each bite of the two dishes, as well as our conversation, which was spurned by the art. And since our date only cost us sixteen dollars, we had enough left over to get a glass of wine to share. (Their Pinot Noir is excellent.) Some other selections from the lunch menu are their soup and salad for nine dollars (their soups are consistently spectacular). The Citrus Dill Tuna and their Flatbread du Jour are also excellent selections for under ten dollars.
Another terrific aspect of dining at Café Nola is the service. Although the servers struck us at first glance as young and hip (which often translates to condescending), they were very friendly and knowledgeable. So the atmosphere wasn’t snooty or stodgy, as a museum restaurant may be tempted to become. In fact we talked at length to our waitress and ended up helping decide on the music they played in the restaurant. We tipped her half of our tab. Another great thing about keeping the bill under twenty is that you have more money to be gracious with when it comes to giving a well-deserved tip!
Article Published in the April 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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