Restaurant Review: The Community Table Café

Community Service

By: Patricia Greathouse
Published online: Friday, November 11, 2011
Appeared in: Pasateimpo

The Community Table Café is founded on the idealistic philosophy of wanting to provide fresh, honest, and affordable food. It’s getting there. The Plate of Love, a pay-what-you-can dish, and kitchen volunteers who work for food tokens are concepts that are just catching on. However, chef/owner Christopher Kolon, who hopes to focus on food insecurity while offering healthy, wholesome, tasty, and seasonal food, expects that those things will develop with time. A few dishes shine when all the stars are aligned; and the ability, sincerity, and heart of Kolon and his wife, Reingard Kolon, are apparent.

The Community Table Café is the kind of restaurant where the bones show — there’s no pretense. Diners are treated as friends and welcomed with enthusiasm. People who know Kolon and Reingard hold a great deal of goodwill for them, noting his extensive experience in the food world, her background in ayurvedic cooking, and the homemade desserts she makes. The feeling in the restaurant is of something new and just discovered.

The food also has a fresh, clean feel that shows up in healthful and visually appealing dishes. A special entree plate — perfect florets of burnished roasted cauliflower gratin with a sprinkle of melted feta cheese — sat on a chunky tomato sauce enriched with onions and capers. Creamy blocks of grilled polenta and a side of fresh green salad complemented the cauliflower and sauce.

Some of the food feels naked as a newborn, as if it needs a little more time to mature. The bean burrito is made with just-tender beans and a small amount of mild green chile and cheddar cheese folded into a soft flour tortilla. It’s filling, but it feels Spartan. Christopher Kolon is clear about not having the desire to be in the gourmet niche, but if the beans had been cooked with garlic and onions until melting in their own sauce and then topped with a chile of character (ditto the cheese), no one would accuse him of elitism. No ground would be lost on the vegetarian front, either; something would be gained, for if there’s one thing vegetarians need in this world, it’s luscious, comforting food.

The vegetarian Reuben has plenty of greasy goodness. Crisp, toasty griddled homemade bread is packed with sauerkraut, tempeh, and melted cheese. This sandwich is so far past comfort, it nears the X-rated zone.

Meanwhile, the soul bowl, basically rice and black beans with a vegan sauce of legumes and almonds, is topped with green chile, cheese, tomatoes, and avocado. It’s basic good nutrition, and there’s an even- simpler version at a lower price on the menu, which is listed simply as Fuel. Soups change at least once a week. The sweet-potato-coconut curry soup was creamy and rich.

Salads come in several varieties, including house, Caesar (sans anchovies), and a changing array of sidesalads. At two meals, we tried the salad threesome, sampling the following: a bland rice noodle with broccoli, snow peas, and sesame seeds; silken roasted zucchini and onion with balsamic vinegar; crunchy cabbage and mango; mild couscous; cooked carrot; and jicama. Each of the side salads does have its own voice, but sometimes I wanted them to speak more distinctly.

On our visits, desserts ranged from an excellent tiramisu to a too-old apple galette. Unfortunately, pastry is best the first day, and if business is slow, a dessert with a longer shelf life may be in order. Likewise, the banana bread was stale and suffered from refrigeration — the death of bread. Coconut and almond cookies sandwiched with a little chocolate were pleasant, and just one of them will satisfy a sweet tooth.

Several dishes that we didn’t order look interesting. The Can’t Be Beet Burger and a grilled nut-loaf sandwich with rosemary mayo and cheese beg for a try. Service is friendly and somewhat catch-as-catch-can. Diners order at the counter and food is run out as it comes up. Silverware is waiting, tines up, in a cup on the table (I hope this practice will be changed at least by placing the utensils tines down). Plates are cleared at a leisurely pace.

However, service in this sense of the word is not the thrust of The Community Table Café. The focus is on community — all of us gathered ’round, eating healthful, affordable, power-to-the-people food in a friendly and loving spirit. Being served in that way can’t hurt in these tough and trying times.