Crab cake, chipoltle aioli, brioche, citrus salad

Vertical Wine Bistro has some new tricks:  a new Sommelier, Scott Teruya, and a new service, lunch.

Seated in one of the cozy booths, I read through the new lunch menu. There were a couple of entrees that grabbed my attention, like the lobster club sandwich. My companion and I decided to start with the crab cake.

I am the crab cake queen; I love them. If there is a crab cake to be

Grilled steak salad, sliced potato, vine ripened tomatoes, bleu cheese

had I’ll have it. Some of them I’ve had over the years were delicious and some were terrible. Vertical’s ended up in the delicious category. Full of crab not bread crumbs and studded with red and green bell pepper, the cake was garnished with a dollop of chipotle aioli and served on a toasted slice of brioche. Accompanying the crab cake was a delightful citrus salad with white and pink grapefruit, endive and avocado. A perfect citrus foil to the rich crab cake.

White fish, crushed potatoes, tomato vinaigrette

A bowl of rustic tomato and bread soup was served with a topping of  toasted bread, basil chiffonade and freshly shaved parmesan cheese. The soup was a savory amalgam of chunky tomato, fresh herbs and married wonderfully with the bread, basil and parmesan.

Warm medium rare beef, and dressed greens was our next dish. A salad of vine ripened tomatoes, slices of warm potatoes, bleu cheese and grilled steak, this dish was a delight to the taste buds.

Asparagus omelette, Laura Chenel goat cheese, morel mushrooms, fries

The warmth of the grilled steak melted the bleu cheese which in turn coated the greens. The addition of the slices of potatoes and tomatoes made this main dish salad a real taste treat.

A fluffy egg omelette stuffed with mild, tangy Laura Chenel goat cheese and asparagus was served with a light cream sauce and morel mushrooms. The earthy flavor of the morel mushrooms blended with the tangy cheese making this omelette a delightful entrée for lunch. The omelette was served with the most delicious fries, thin strips of potatoes crunchy on the outside and tender and fluffy on the inside.

Flakey white fish crested a bed of crushed potatoes in our next entrée. Tomato vinaigrette anchored the flavors in this dish. The white fish, a mild fillet was topped with tangy olive tapenade. An east coast delicacy, this left coaster was pleased to sample this wonderful fish. continued