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| Ithaca Journal - 5/20/09 |
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Tab for $20: Green Cafe
Oh my gawd! I felt like a New Yawkah again as I thrust open the glass doors of the sleek Green Café and stepped into what reminded me of the best of street-corner delis in Manhattan.
Cool jazz filled the 1,000-square-foot space. The décor reminded me of Dean & DeLuca as I walked past a theatrically-lit juice bar with sexy, shiny red and silver cabaret stools straight out of The Cotton Club. Round glass table tops and Sony TV screens tuned in to daytime soap operas surrounded the black bar. Two coy employees stood behind the counter, sizing me up as granola. I couldn't resist an energy boost, so I ordered a 12-ounce Razzamatazz ($3.95), an elixir of raspberry, blackberry, pineapple, Acai berry, and Guarana, which was quickly executed and swirled into a cooling drink I shared with my best friend.
The Mood
Slurping on the Razzamatazz to the beat of a linear melodic melody while actors on the TV screens made out, I watched, through the floor-to-ceiling windows, breezy college types passing by with their headphones on, Twittering on their cell phones mid-day, mid-week on Dryden Road. As I took a turn around the café to view the displays chock-full of food, my head began to spin into the cosmos. Pokeable and puffy cappuccino, nutty banana, and chocolate chip muffins had their very own section; so did the creamy strawberry-colored yogurt parfaits topped with plump grapes and slices of bright kiwi fruit.
Turning a corner past the coffee bar, serving everything from mocha java to espresso, and a pastry and dessert area displaying jumbo M&M cookies, marshmallow brownies, and vibrantly green key lime bars, I was face-to-face with a food-focused showdown: a hot and cold buffet, maybe the most generous buffet I've ever seen in my life.
Seafood, avocado, asparagus, cucumber, and caprese salads, broccoli rabe, baby bok Choy, and a pesto penne filled pans in the cold section. Steam wafted from the fanfare of hot food: barbecue pork ribs, fried chicken wings, buttered corn, baked ziti, beef lasagna, mashed potatoes, sesame chicken, eggplant rollatini, candied yams, and good ol' mac 'n' cheese.
Above the buffet there were frosted flakes and froot loops, Mrs. Fields cookies, party mixes, and a variety of teas. Surrounding the buffet were more plasma screens over a sushi and sashimi bar, a kimchi tofu soup bar, a teriyaki bar, and a make-your-own salad bar. By now, I wasn't sure where I was, a food bazaar in Amsterdam, London, or Japan. My best friend blurted out one thing: "Read my lips honey: let's scram before we get fat!"
The Food
But we both were famished and would never deprive ourselves of low-cost, potentially healthy eats. I narrowed down my choices to a smoked turkey sandwich and a buffalo bang, breaded chicken, bacon, mozzarella, onion rings, and Buffalo wing sauce.
I opted for the smoked turkey ($5.75) and ate it while my friend dilly-dallied. The crusty French bread enclosed a slice of brie, six thin layers of turkey, a dab of mayo, butter, mustard á la ronde, and a handful of crunchy alfalfa sprouts. My friend eyed the veggie delight sandwich, then the Cuban panini, before settling on a grilled tuna melt ($6.95). He described the flat, long, slightly burnt sandwich as mushy, gushy, gooey, and worth every bite.
The Damage = $17.98
Notes: 330 College Ave., Ithaca, 273-3100. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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