Witherspoon Grill seemed like a cheery quintessentially Princeton establishment, with patrons chatting or looking comfortable as they lunched on traditional American fare outside on the public square. Thus I determined it’d be a terrific place to bring my cousins, aunt, and uncle for lunch when they visited this past weekend. The rain shattered any ideas of having lunch outside under the sun. It also contributed to the dim lighting inside which didn’t match the late brunch atmosphere. But on to the food:
I ordered the crab cake with chopped salad from the lunch menu. The presentation was weak: the plate had a washed out appearance. The chopped salad was nothing more than glorified coleslaw—slightly larger pieces of lettuce, carrot, and cucumber lathered in a light cream sauce. The crab cake had crispy browned edges and was appropriately flakey (all seafood is bought fresh from the Nassau Street Seafood). However I could barely discern the taste of the crab under the salty mayo mixture that held it together. The side sauce, a sort of tartar sauce, lent a bit more dimensionality to the test, but I found the meal disappointing.
My aunt and uncle each ordered a mushroom omelet and one of my cousins ordered a hamburger. Again, Witherspoon Grill delivered traditional, bordering on bland, items. My youngest cousin got the best plate by far—homemade macaroni and cheese baked with breadcrumbs on top. Unfortunately, you have to be under 12 for that dish. The portions are refreshingly reasonable—you’ll leave full, but not have leftovers.
Dessert however, is worthwhile. My other cousin and I each or
dered vanilla caramel ice cream, which Witherspoon Grill gets from Bent Spoon. The presentation was sleek, but the ice cream lacked the freshness of Bent Spoon ice cream straight from the Palmer Square shop. What Witherspoon Grill finally gets right is the ‘Warm Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake.’ The warmed Lindt peanut butter gushes from the center as you break into it, and the chocolate cake, high quality peanut butter, and vanilla ice cream complement each other perfectly.
If you’re interested in traditional American fare, fresh food, and don’t want many frills or surprises, Witherspoon Grill is for you. If you’re interested in creative, flavorful food, take your patronage elsewhere.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Beyond the Wa: Witherspoon Grill
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Beyond the 'Wa: Dining Hall Dining
It’s been about six months of dining hall food and I hear people becoming bored with the same old tricolor tortellini and pizza. To ward off such a jaded attitude toward food, I explored some alternatives—namely, cooking for yourself in the dining hall. This is nothing fancy, but using a creative combination of ingredients enhances the epicurean palate.
Here’s a day at Forbes:
Early in the morning, I’m thrilled to find the strawberry bowls brimming with strawberries. Today’s breakfast is thus a yogurt parfait—experiment with different cereals, fruits, and top it off with a drizzle of honey- a light, filling start to the day.
Today for lunch there’s southwest salad: black beans, corn, red peppers, and tomatoes. It’s calling to be stuffed in a pita with some cottage cheese. The cool cottage cheese balances the zesty mixture with a bit of chili powder and jalapeno pepper and the whole mixture is rounded out by the whole wheat pita. Interesting varieties include stuffing in with salad bar delights—salsa, green peppers, chicken, or tuna complement this well.
At dinner, I create an open-faced sandwich, but this can always be topped off with another piece of bread. I spread the creamy, garlicky hummus on whole grain toast and top it with black beans, green peppers, 
and craisins. This is delicious. The hearty hummus, black beans, and whole grain bread make this surprisingly filling. The green peppers give it a nice crunch and the craisins add a tangy touch. Again, experiment with those salad bar toppings. Carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, eggs, chicken, and tuna all make good toppings. With so many choices, who’s complaining?
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Beyond the 'Wa: Farmers' Market
Three determined farmers set out stands in the rain at the first Farmers' Market of 2009. There were two cheese stalls, a booth from Whole Earth Center, and a stand from Dining services. I was told that six more vendors were expected to come yesterday, but backed out because of the rain.
Due to said rain, the steaming samples offered by Dining Services caught my attention first. Dining Services always contributes a freshly prepared dish made of local organic materials to the Farmers' Markets and today’s specialty was BLT soup. The pureed tomato soup was thick and textured—not the watery stuff found in a Campbell’s soup can—but didn’t taste like much besides tomatoes. The soup was topped with frisée (the curly leafy green in salads), which was awkward to manage with a spoon and didn’t lend itself well to being covered with thick tomato puree. The hearty crackers, which seemed to be thin toasted slices of a whole grain baguette, gave the soup some much-needed salty flavor, but the single cracker didn’t go far. Overall, I decided I prefer my BLT’s whole.
Another stop was the stand set up by Whole Earth Cen
ter. I sampled a spicy peanut spread and a more mellow eggplant spread. But what really has had me marveling all day are the ‘Vegan Chocolate and Coconut Orbs.’ Bought in a pack of 4 balls, these yummy sweets are made of (all organic) dates, dark chocolate chips, almond butter, soy milk, coconut, and sesame seeds. The dates give these treats a natural sweetness. The dark chocolate chips are a pleasant surprise packed in the date and sesame-seed shell. They are topped off with coconut, which is a nice addition in texture, but overwhelming in flavor. These date ‘orbs’ are one of the best natural sweet treats I have come across.
- Sarah Gerth '12
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