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Cathy and I are both freelancers who work for the same client, and we decided after a month of exchanging e-mails over a mutual project that we should meet in person. So we settled on Magnolia's Deli & Cafe on Park Avenue, where we could sit outside and chat about something other than work (though we did that, too).
The mood
We nabbed an outdoor table on a beautiful day at lunchtime, but the wind had just enough of a gust to coax us inside. The restaurant is spacious and has plenty of seating at light wood-and-metal tables. A colorful mural along the wall adds lively depth to the soothing yellow and terra cotta surroundings.
The food
Cathy ordered the Fruit Salad on Greens ($8.99), with apples, bananas, grapes, mandarin oranges, pineapples and strawberries on a hearty bed of spring mix, served with creamy triple-berry yogurt dressing and crushed pecans on the side. She was awestruck by the presentation and after a few bites noted, "I buy fruit all the time and it never tastes this good."
I went with the cup of soup/half a sandwich option ($7.95), choosing what Magnolia's calls its "famous" chicken salad sandwich on sunflower bread with lettuce and tomato, along with a cup of tomato, artichoke and cheese soup. Our server scored points when, after placing my order, she asked if I'd like my sandwich pressed like a panini. (I said "yes.") The chicken salad was piled on so high I needed a fork to finish what fell on my plate — I considered that a plus — and the soup made such an impression, with its creamy, earthy flavors, that I went home and printed out an online recipe for it.
Magnolia's menu is extensive, offering nearly 20 pizzas made by hand, wraps and salads, as well as specialty sandwiches named for neighborhood streets. The Berkeley, for instance, comes with grilled chicken breast, sautéed portobello mushrooms, provolone cheese and mayonnaise on a grilled deli roll ($8.50).
The drinks
We each stuck with water, but there are plenty of hot and cold specialty drinks available. There also are 10 specialty beers on tap. Pints are $3.25; bottled beers are $3.50; and a sample tray (your choice of five beers on tap in 3-oz. steins) is $5.
The damage: $22.30
Next time ... I'm getting the Rising Sunflower sandwich with turkey, havarti cheese, tomato, romaine lettuce, onion, roasted red peppers and pesto mayonnaise on grilled sunflower bread ($8.25). I knew I loved the sunflower — both the one that grows out of the ground and the yoga pose — but it turns out, as I discovered during this meal, that I love the bread as well.
