Thursday, February 12, 2009
Review: Lunch at The Greenbrier
Draper's Cafe offers tasty American fare in a charming setting
Dolores Kostelni | Special to The Roanoke Times
The special of the day, sausage quiche, had a delicious balance of ingredients. It was served with a lightly dressed greens salad.
For the past 10 years, my walking partner and I have celebrated our birthdays with lunch at Draper's Cafe, a comfortable, casual restaurant located at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Draper's Cafe honors the memory of Dorothy Draper, the interior designer from Long Island, N.Y., who originally decorated The Greenbrier in her extravagant floral patterns and showy colors back in the 1920s. The decor of Draper's Cafe evokes the designer's signature schemes, but on a subdued level.
Of the two rooms in the cafe, my friend and I prefer the Garden Room, which is located up a few steps from the larger entrance dining area. It's a bright room with long windows, splendid views of full-bodied shrubbery and trees, and eggplant-colored walls enhanced by pink touches. The multihued, cut-glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling catches the sunlight and twinkles like a bouquet of stars.
THE MENU
Draper's Cafe offers a selection of contemporary American cuisine incorporating some Mexican and Italian influences as well as sandwiches made on a variety of breads. While these meals can be a little expensive, there's an array of selections at various price levels to keep costs reasonable.
The Greenbrier Spa Cuisine offerings, identified with a script "G" on the menu, include reduced-fat options and nutritionally beneficial ingredients.
First courses include soups (cup $6.25, bowl $7.50), seasonal fruits and berries ($12.50), a spicy chicken quesadilla ($8.75) and roasted vegetables with hummus and flatbread crisps ($7.75).
Two of the five salads feature chicken -- one made with a jumble of fried chicken, jalapeno dressing, artichokes, roasted potatoes, olives, peppers and cheddar cheese ($16.50). A simpler chicken salad mingles toasted almonds and dressing accompanied by onion focaccia and seasonal fruits ($15.50). Grilled skirt steak salad comes with mixed greens, sourdough croutons, feta cheese and roasted onion vinaigrette ($17.95).
Except for the roast beef and Vermont cheddar cheese sandwich with marinated slaw and Worcestershire mayonnaise on country sourdough bread ($16.75), the remaining eight sandwiches and main courses all come with a version of potato chips or fries on the plate. Choices include a classic beef burger with cheddar cheese and bacon ($15.95); grilled barbecue chicken with red onion, bacon, havarti cheese and pickles ($14.95); and a roasted vegetable panini with marinated slaw ($14.95).
WHAT WE ATE
My walking partner ordered sausage quiche, a special of the day, which had a light texture and a delicious balance of ingredients, along with a fresh, lightly dressed greens salad ($14.50).
I began my meal with a cup of minestrone, the soup de jour ($6.25), a tomato broth containing many pieces of vegetables, including yellow squash, carrots and celery. Then I enjoyed a sauteed jumbo lump crab cake, which was crisp on the outside and moist and meaty on the inside, along with Old Bay mayonnaise and chips ($19.75).
For dessert, my friend indulged in a fat-free, chocolate and vanilla soft-serve frozen yogurt ($4.75). Creamy, smooth and with true flavors, this towering delight could be the best dessert of its kind. I ordered a piece of New York-style cheesecake ($9.50) and surprisingly, it arrived with a sheer apricot glaze on top (disqualifying it from true New York-style) and a mound of bitter, whole strawberries in an ill-conceived gloppy red sauce. The cheesecake on its own proved tasty and velvety enough for me to finish every morsel with a cup of piping-hot espresso ($4).
IF I GO BACK, I'LL ORDER
A medley of chilled seafood, which includes poached lobster tail, black tiger shrimp, smoked salmon and crab mayo ($17.95), a dish I had my eye on during this past visit. My walking partner will treat herself to the grilled skirt steak salad.
NOT TO BE PICKY, BUT ...
Pleasant service rules at Draper's; however, even though we requested extra time between courses, there was not enough time to finish a cup of soup before the entrees arrived. The "rushing" has been this way for years, and it's time for the restaurant to bid it farewell.
The cheesecake ended my meal on a delicious note, and I brought home two desserts for my husband and me to enjoy that evening. Alas, when I opened the takeout box holding the chocolate fudge cake ($9.50), I noticed reddish brown liquid oozing from the dessert. One bite determined this piece of tasteless cake was not just moist, but decidedly wet. The pecan pie ($9.50) proved just as off-putting: A thick, hard pastry crust held a dense, brown-sugar custard filling decorated with a top layer of heavily glazed, tough pecan halves -- the only pecans in the pie.
THE BOTTOM LINE
We will return to The Greenbrier, but it's to everyone's benefit to correct these above flaws.
