My first trip to Chef's Palette Restaurant in the Stonebridge Shopping Center at southeast intersection of Ten-Ten Road and Kildaire Farm Road intersection in Cary, North Carolina. Mapquest sent me to the wrong corner of the intersection, but easy enough to circle around. Watch for Harris Teeter grocery store, BB&T bank, and Dunkin Donuts in the same center. Plenty of parking space and minimal traffic on that side of Kildaire Farm in the evening.
The restaurant is divided in half with a bar to the right and a square dining room to the left. Neutral brown walls and curtains covering the window that opens on parking lot. Attractive lighting fixtures, plus a small candle on each table. Artwork on the wall added flair, but some compositions looked like the work of students. Restrooms were clean and pretty, but with an absurdly strong perfume scent that had my noise itching. I liked the heft of the silverware and the egg-shaped water glass. White dishware came in attractive combination of modern shapes.
Chef's Palette scores high in the service category. Very young hostess greeted me with authentic friendliness, complimented my colorful purse, and later asked about the meal as I departed. She graciously accommodated my request for larger table under brighter light. Water glass was filled by a co-worker and my waitress Johanna arrived soon after. The requested slice of lemon came promptly. Service was responsive throughout the evening.
Every customer ooooh'd aloud at the attractive menu which triggers a glowing backlit display when opened. This is supposedly the only restaurant in North Carolina using these light-up menus. Only four tables filled, but quite noisy. Sounded more like a pub, than an upscale restaurant, so acoustics are clearly less the ideal. Background music was too soft to be recognized.
I was informed that the chef used to be a vegetarian. But there all entrees on the right-hand side of menu came with meat or seafood. Also no option to just get side orders of vegetables. The waitress indicated that special plates could be fixed, such as Vesuvius pasta with grilled vegetables instead of the shrimp. However, if a restaurant cares about vegetarian diners, we should not be forced to negotiate our way through substitutions with unspecified price adjustments. Unfortunately, the menu gives no indication that any items use organic or locally-grown produce. My menu options dwindled to four appetizers and four salads.
Service began with slices of mundane french bread baguette, no better than the generic brand at a grocery store. The garlic oil dipping -- described as a house special by waitress -- did have a flavorful afterkick. Some fresh herbs would have been welcome addition.
My dinner began with the $6.00 "Desie Mae’s Fried Green Tomatoes," served with a "green onion vermouth remoulade" that tasted strongly of mustard. Quite lovely. Probably the best I've had in the Triangle, and certainly better than what the restaurant Lucky 32 serves. Not as memorable as the green tomato masterpieces I remember from south Georgia, which is a tough standard to match. Nice portion on a bed of greens with generous amount of sauce.
The $8.00 "Velvet Underground Oven Roasted Vidalia Onion" arrived quite cold. Re-heating quickly solved the problem. Big soft petals of onions, crowned with Montrachet goat cheese, sprinkled with crispy onion bits, and drizzled with herbed olive oil. Flavorful and a welcome alternative to the deep-fried version. The "crustinis" seemed to just be thinner slightly-toasted slices of the same white bread and didn't add anything to the appetizer. I finished half and happily took the rest home.
A teenager sitting nearby wanted catsup. The restaurant searched but could not find any. Adults probably won't care, but this is a sign that younger children might not easily be accommodated.
Nice touch with a message on inside of dessert menu from the owner Kathi, giving thanks to her staff team and family. I resisted dessert during this visit, but will convince a friend to split the Sticky Date Pudding cake with Frangelico caramel and honey whipped cream during next visit. With the garlic oil and onion as centerpiece of my meal, I would have been grateful for a breath mint.
Bit of a wait for the check, but I could see that my waitress was busy taking an order. In an ideal world, another staff member should have noticed that I was waiting for table to be cleared.
Absolutely delighted that the restaurant provides non-plastic left-over containers. Three cheers for sturdy biodegradable textured paper, which came in the familiar shape of a standard styrofoam container.
Overall score:
Quality of food = Good for the green tomatoes, adequate for the rest.
Vegetarian accommodation = Disappointing but not hopeless.
Service = Customer-focused, but work on the pacing.
Environmental commitment = Bonus points for avoiding plastic.
Visit the restaurant website:
http://www.chefspaletterestaurantandbar.com/
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