On Thursday, Italian dishes such as spaghetti and meatballs are available at Café Navarro. (Photos by Laura McKenzie) |
Café Navarro proves hospital cafeteria food can be good
Hospital food and healing have never seemed to go hand in hand; how much sustenance is there in Jell-O? Jell-O does appear in the line at Café Navarro, Nix Hospital's open-to-all cafeteria, but it is the only obvious vestige of sorry-you're-sick food. Surprisingly, Café Navarro has gourmet aspirations, and they aren't altogether misplaced.
The sixth floor at the Nix looks much like any other; there are no obvious clues to anything out of the ordinary. The floor, polished to a mirror shine, seems perfectly at home, and the clientele, from maintenance men in jeans to medicos in suits and scrubs, is just what you'd expect. But a quick glance at the menu board reveals that there's more at work here than Salisbury steak with creamed corn. Though I began cautiously with a turkey chipotle wrap and a bowl of potato-leek soup, other options that day included flounder with peppers and onions and beef fajitas with "fixings."
Rhula Mitcheltree, director of Food Services, is credited for envisioning the changes which have recently taken place at Café Navarro. In August 2004, the cafeteria received a face-lift not only to its menu, but to the decor as well. |
Determined to try some of the more ambitious entrées, I returned on a Friday for the scallops in a tomato-basil sauce. (Had I gone on Thursday instead, Hunan Chicken with fried rice or Sesame Pork Tenderloin would have been contenders.) Branches of fresh basil adorned the steam-table container, a positive sign, and available vegetable sides included asparagus in lemon butter and roasted red potatoes. Okra and tomatoes, Lyonnaise potatoes, cornbread, refrieds, and cut green beans - with Spanish rice, the major throwback to classic cafeteria - have been options in the past. Seafood always strikes me as something to be wary of in a cafeteria line; it turns to mush so easily, which was the main reason I ruled out the
After grabbing a tray, customers who came in on Thursday could choose between several Italian entrées, including Chicken Parmesan. |
The asparagus wasn't as crisp as it might have been at a $20-entrée joint, but it was still within tolerable limits, and the potatoes were right on target. Feeling end-of-the-week indulgent, I also snagged a piece of coconut cream pie. Ignoring the difficulty of eating pie from a wedge-shaped container, I'd have to hand it to the pie person: The flavors were fine, the textures good, the total experience, if not platonically pie, at least far from plastic. Apple was another option, and it looked equally real.
Café Navarro Nix Hospital 414 Navarro 579-3050 Breakfast: 6:30-10am Mon-Fri, 7-10am Sat-Sun. Lunch: 11am-2pm, Mon. to Fri; 11am-1:30pm Sat; 11am-1pm Sun. Snack: 2:30-4pm Mon-Fri. Dinner: 4:30-6pm Mon-Fri NO CREDIT CARDS Handicapped accessible |