Friday, August 21, 2009

More than it appears

Cafe Joel

I ran across Cafe Joël in Novato's Hamilton Field while I was browsing the net the other day and was quite impressed with the offerings. I had to put it on my list to try!

Hangar 6

It's a little bit hidden, around the corner from South Novato Library and in Hangar 6.

Cafe Joel signage

When you walk through the inner courtyard between buildings, you can soon recognize it with it's cheery welcome sign near the patio, and the "Cafe Joël" signage on the door.

Potato Leek Soup

After ordering from the friendly hostess, I sat outside on the patio and the soup I ordered came surprisingly quickly (along with the salad I ordered). I was impressed. It wasn't an over-milky under seasoned puree of leek and potatoes, but a well balanced blend of dairy, leek and potatoes. The waiter thoughtfully brought out salt & pepper with the soup 'just in case', however it didn't need a thing.

Grilled Salmon Salad

The Grilled Salmon Salad consisted of baby greens with asparagus and citrus/caper vinaigrette. Attention was paid to the presentation as well as the tasty caper-citrus vinaigrette. It was fresh, lovely and delicious. And the price was right at $9.95. This same salad would easily go for $15-$20 not so far south of here. I felt well-served and well-fed. In fact, after observing other food items coming out of this kitchen, I was convinced by the time I left that this Chef deserves a larger and more elegant venue to serve up his creations.

Restaurant Inspection Results

Critical: 0
Noncritical: 0
Last inspected: 2/27/2009


Find address/phone number/directions on Anna's Map.

1 comment:

Zoomie said...

Gonna give this one a try, for sure! Thanks for scouting it out.