Sprout's salads can be big, bold, colorful and jam-packed with ingredients, or as simple as unadorned leafy lettuce. Patrons can choose from a myriad of ingredients by ticking off exactly what they want on order pads located just inside the front door. After presenting the order to the cashier, the patron is given a number and the order is brought to the table. It's quick, clean and efficient. The build-your-own salad concept was easily the most popular option during my visits. The concept is not new. It is similar to how The Counter operates its burger haven on California Avenue, and how Pluto's offers its salads elsewhere on University. What is new is the application to organic salads and mostly vegetarian fare. There are other items from which to choose as well: Sprout's "signature" salads, a "small bites" grouping, and soups and sandwiches.
Sprout is the brainchild of Vinh Vi, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy. However, opening a greens cafe wasn't quite that simple. He was first a civil engineer in San Francisco, measuring, calculating and advising on physical properties. While his parents owned Windy's Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto, he had a genetic passion for food that could not be denied. No more civil engineer.
After completing study at the Culinary Academy in San Francisco, he gained experience cooking in New York, Hawaii and Los Angeles. When his parents decided to retire, he took over the Windy's space, remodeled it and, in late August, opened Sprout.
"I always loved salads and am very excited about this concept," he said. "Cooking in different parts of the country, I learned new combinations and about herbs and spices.
"We try to buy everything we can from local, certified organic growers. It's often more expensive, and costs fluctuate, but it's worth it and we try to maintain steady pricing on our menu."
Before noon, I watched through a long glass partition to one side of the spacious interior as the white-coated staff assembled healthful lunches. Greens were piled onto plates: millions of crisp emerald leaves, it seemed, washed and glistening as slim, healthy, eco-conscious diners queued up. I almost felt out of place.
I am not opposed to becoming slimmer and more healthily energetic, and who doesn't want to help Mother Nature these days? At the same time, I don't qualify as part of the young and beautiful culture. As the lunch hour wore on, though, workers descended from all quarters, and I was relieved to be amongst a more familiar element.
The food was uniformly good, snappy fresh, wholesome and luminescent on the plate. The basic build-your-own salad was $6.95 for a full salad and $4.95 for a half salad. There were options of six lettuces and spinach to start off. Next, there was a choice of six ingredients from 36 alternatives including fruits, nuts, seeds and cheeses.
Finally, there were a dozen dressings from which to select. Premium options were offered as well, such as heirloom tomatoes, tofu, anchovies, applewood-smoked bacon and candied walnuts. The variations on theme were near unbounded.
I liked the tuna nicoise, one of the "signature salads" ($9.95). The sashimi-quality ahi tuna was crusted with a peppery, almost wasabi-like paste, not too hot, but just enough to leave a kiss on the lips. The salad was completed with green beans, pitted kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes and hard-boiled egg and glistened with a tangy lemon-tarragon vinaigrette. Sprout offers a dozen "signature salads," ranging from $6.25 to $10.95.
Size-wise, the so-called "small bites" are about what I would expect as a first course in most restaurants, except for the large-portioned chicken lettuce wraps ($7.95). Tender slices of chicken breast sat astride a stack of butter lettuce, trimmed to the perfect size for wrapping shredded carrot, cabbage, bean sprouts, cucumber, mint, peanuts and a heap of somen noodles. (Somen are thin, white Japanese-style noodles made from wheat flour.) The accompanying tangy Thai dipping sauce united the wrap.
While I enjoyed the wraps, I made a mess trying to envelop the ingredients inside an uncooperative lettuce leaf. I haven't played enough video games to have mastered that kind of manual dexterity. I ended up mixing the ingredients and eating it as a salad. It was delicious nonetheless.
Another small bite was deep-fried calamari ($7.95). Tender and fresh-tasting, the calamari were presented with the same tasty Thai dipping sauce but served in a conical frame, all the rage in many restaurants today.
On special one day was roasted butternut squash soup ($4.95). It was autumnal gold, velvety-thick and aromatic. The dollop of creme fraiche and a squiggle of cayenne pepper on top added a piquant richness to the potage.
Healthful-sounding sandwiches are available as well: eggplant, turkey, shrimp, chipotle chicken and others. There are beer and wine, and a plethora of juices and organic coffee options.
Sprout is a pleasant, spacious place for eating healthful, nourishing, natural foods. The ingredients pulse with energy; the service is swift; and tables are quickly bussed so the interior remains sparkling and inviting. Smugness aside, I appreciated the attention afforded high-caliber ingredients and allowing patrons to have it their way. I felt a tad thinner as well.
