It's not folklore: Raintree Cafe has healthy eats

As featured in the January 19, 2012 edition of Dining Out, Waterloo Region Record. (photo credit: The Record)

If you intend to keep your resolution to eat healthy beyond the New Year – even when dining out – add the Raintree Café to your list.

Upon entering the split-level eatery near King and University in Waterloo, ignore the whimsical décor; it might have you questioning whether a garden gnome will seat you (service is quirky, but not that quirky). Instead pay attention to the Eat Smart! award of excellence on the wall, the tried-and-true menu – perfected over the last 14 years – and the continuous stream of fresh, fragrant and colourful dishes that fly out of the kitchen like magic carpets.

Our New Year lunch started quite healthily with spicy chicken satay ($12.45): five skewers of incredibly tender chicken marinated in a symphony of Thai spices and served with artichoke and asiago ‘venus dip’ (it’s all about moderation, people). Select the ‘greens’ accompaniment instead of focaccia, and it’s served atop an artistically presented salad of fresh mesclun mix, red and yellow peppers, cucumber, tomato, carrot, radicchio and alfalfa sprouts. Our server recommended the lime-ginger dressing, a concoction so good it will leave you wanting more. In fact, for $4.50, the restaurant will sell you a cup of any of its homemade dressings to take home. The portion of this appetizer is more than ample for lunch. But to satisfy your curiosity, dear reader, we needed to forge on.

We also tried the trailblazer salad ($4.95) – predictably good and chockfull of apples, trail mix, and shredded carrots amidst greens. The citrus mango poppyseed vinaigrette was enough to blaze the trail for me. Two checks for healthy eating. Practically deserving of reward, don’t you think?

Our server’s description of the pasta special ($13.99) sealed the deal: spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli, asparagus, baby spinach, mushrooms, cooked tomatoes and asiago in a delicate tomato cream sauce. So Jenny Craig might not agree, but I was certainly won over. It had vegetables! Come to think of it, I have no idea how Raintree found such fresh-tasting asparagus in January. The vegetables’ natural flavours came through beautifully in this dish, which made it seem healthier, save the carbs and cream sauce.

Should her current job not pan out, our server could easily excel in sales. Mere suggestion that the steak sandwich ($13.45) was the best in town practically had my husband scribbling down his own order. One bite confirmed it. He was particularly impressed with how it “wasn’t all gooped up” with ingredients. Served open-faced and topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms, melted cheddar and a pickle on the side for good measure.

Now many of you won’t be interested in hearing about dessert, but important information to know should you ever be questioned. First I must convey my dessert philosophy, which is, quite simply: don’t mess around. Enjoy it in all its full-fat glory, embed it in your memory for the non-dessert days that follow, and move on (by way of treadmill).

One glance at the dessert menu and I knew we were kindred spirits: 11 varieties of Dufflet desserts, Illy coffee, brewed in a Bunn – that’s how it’s done.

My husband chose the squirrel tart ($3.50): a gratifying chocolate crust layered with fudgy peanut butter mousse, caramel, peanuts and finished in a dark chocolate glaze. Nut-tacular. I opted for the raspberry chocolate truffle ($4.95): four luxurious layers of light chocolate cake nestled between raspberry and rich chocolate truffle cream. Snap! (Goes the belt buckle.)

So we skipped dinner. It was worth it. Eating healthy is easy at the Raintree Café. Harnessing your appetite is not. 
Two and a half forks

Raintree Cafe
220 King St. N., Waterloo
519-884-4953
www.raintreecafe.com

Hours
Monday to Friday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. (kitchen closes at 9 p.m.)
Saturday: 12 p.m. – 10 p.m. (kitchen closes at 9 p.m.)
Closed Sundays

Wheelchair Accessibility
Inaccessible.

Cuisine
Kitchen staff didn’t just ride in on a turnip truck; they could run circles around the Mediterranean, Indian, Thai, Mexican, Cajun and American dishes they’ve perfected. What’s evident is their respect for freshness and the innate flavours of the carefully selected ingredients.

Reservations
Necessary, especially at lunch.

Atmosphere
Whimsical to the point that it needs an update (e.g. the toilets have instructions for proper flushing). Folklore meets industrial, warmed with wood. Eclectic? Bold blue walls filled with local paintings and photography, wood tables, sadly upholstered leatherette chairs. But the sari-like silk pillows lining the banquette seating always make me feel cozy. Live music some evenings.

Menu
Inventive homemade soups (‘license to dill’ caught my eye), four to five varieties each of zesty salads (with amazing homemade dressings), appetizers, wraps, sandwiches and entrees.

Drinks
Seven chalkboard offerings of local and international and wines by the glass ($5.95) and half-litre ($17.95). Nine varieties are available by the bottle ($25.95). Several local and imported beers in bottles and draught-style cans as well as hard liquor and liqueurs. Variety of lattes, teas, juices and natural soft drinks.

Service
Friendly, quirky, informative but I felt a bit rushed.

The bill
$75.65 (including tax, before tip) for a salad, appetizer, two entrees, two desserts, two glasses of wine and a coffee.

In a nutshell
This place has mastered its dishes. They don’t change often, but they’re consistently good.

Stamp your culinary passport at MeMe's Cafe

As featured in the January 5, 2012 edition of Dining Out, Waterloo Region Record.(photo credit: The Record)

If you can’t jet set to an exotic destination this holiday, you need go no farther than MeMe’s Café in New Hamburg to sample multicultural cuisine from around the world.

That’s right: New Hamburg.

Meredith Hagen, owner of MeMe’s Café, grew up in New Hamburg but later lived in Paris and spent time in Italy, Greece and the Caribbean along the way. In a post-review conversation, Hagen credited her travels to her expanded understanding of global cuisine, which often agrees with her food allergies and gluten intolerance. She came to appreciate the slow-food mentality of these countries: preserving traditional and regional cuisine and encouraging farming of the local ecosystem, ideally organically.

When Hagen returned home and opened MeMe’s Café in 2001, she envisioned merging local, mostly organic food with international recipes to provide wholesome, feel-good options for patrons, including those with food sensitivities. Her chef, Stephen St. Christian, lived most of his life in Toronto, where he was captivated by the city’s ethnic smorgasbord of culinary marvels. These memories continue to inspire MeMe’s constantly changing menu today.

Our epicurean adventure started with callaloo ($3.25), the Caribbean version of gumbo. Spinach lends this soup its rich green colour but takes a back seat to fragrant coconut milk, hearty plantains and a hint of that Jamaican secret ingredient: allspice. It was served piping hot with soft, oven-warm bread. Had my lunch ended here, I would’ve been quite content.

But we had barely left the runway. A tour of the Mediterranean followed with MeMe’s feta salad ($5.25), which I hear has hooked locals with its organic mixed greens, sesame and sunflower seeds, almonds, red pepper, raisins, marinated feta and honey Dijon vinaigrette. Delightful.

Next came an oversized bowl of Greek seafood stew ($10.25), which had me thanking Zeus for its savoury roasted tomato and fennel broth bursting with bites of fresh sole, shrimp and calamari. I’m a bit squeamish when it comes to squid but could’ve easily taken home another bowl had it not sold out.

We also paid homage to Germany’s quiche ($9.95), with a roasted apple thyme and swiss rendition. But it was served cold, which didn’t win me over, and its flavour paled in comparison to the other dishes.

Fortunately, dessert was its redeemer, and let’s just talk about MeMe’s heavenly baked creations: gourmet cookies the size of your head, pies, squares, tarts — all godsends. Makes perfect sense that baker, Kim Frere, is a local minister’s wife.

I confess that the dessert I selected was a little more sinful, entitled “tits of the Andes” ($2.75). I’m not kidding. Apparently, this is a commonly known dessert in parts of Europe. Large, chocolate-covered coconut macaroons with white chocolate peaks were va-va-voom. Now how often can you order something off a restaurant menu with a name like that? And gluten-free, no less!

On a more wholesome note, we also sampled a zesty lemon tart ($4), which reminded me of something my sweet little Irish grandmother would lovingly prepare. Lovely.

Now don’t be disheartened when you pull up to MeMe’s unassuming exterior (OK, the interior’s nothing to write home about either). Because you know that magic is bubbling over in the kitchen when a continuous stream of customers float in and out its doors, many hugging brown paper takeout bags and sporting anticipating grins.

Who needs airport lineups, jet lag and turbulence when you can enjoy this kind of hassle-free baggage claim?

MeMe’s Cafe
102 Peel St., New Hamburg
519-662-2828
www.memescafe.com

Hours
Monday to Friday: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Closed Sundays, and Jan. 1 to 9 for holidays.

Accessibility
One step up to the entrance makes this café not accessible.

Cuisine
Internationally inspired dishes with a local twist.

Reservations
Not necessary.

Atmosphere
A dim but homey café with barn-board floors and eclectic wood furniture amid retro Formica and aluminum tables and chairs. Walls covered with local artwork.

Menu
Soups, salads, sandwiches, quiches, entrees and many delectable desserts. Varieties change daily. Many marked gluten-free options. MeMe’s Café also has a catering menu for weddings, private dinner parties, corporate events and luncheons covering areas as wide as Stratford to Toronto. All culinary creations — including those served at the café — are prepared at its off-site industrial kitchen, also located in New Hamburg.

Drinks
Several varieties of Baden Coffee Company organic javas, dry sodas (in unique flavours such as rhubarb, juniper berry, vanilla bean and lavender), organic juices and all-natural sodas. Not licensed.

Service
Friendly (know most customers by name) and accommodating.

The bill
$40.06 (before tax, including tip) for an order of soup, a salad, two mains and two desserts.

In a nutshell
Excellent food, great value, charming little café. Two and a half forks