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Elements
updated: Jun 05, 2010, 4:45 PM
By Ms. Lemonjelly
Lunch downtown during the workweek is now a rare occurrence. But given the opportunity, I'll take it! This time we went to Elements, a restaurant and bar I have little experience with. The last time I dined at that location, it was a little bakery, and a chocolate croissant was a real treat after spending an afternoon in book bliss at the library.
The first thing I noticed at Elements was a prix fixe lunch special; three courses for $20. It sounded expensive at first, but most lunch sandwiches or burritos can easily cost $10, so adding in a soup or salad and a dessert, the price becomes reasonable. Then I started reading the food descriptions. Greens from Shepherd Farm, almonds from Fat Uncle Farms...these are all local companies I see at the farmers market. Sold.
I started with a simple green salad with avocado and vinaigrette. The other option was tomato soup. No complaints - the avocado was perfect and the salad was dressed nicely.
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For my main course, I selected the fish and chips. It's quite different from the typical fish and chips. The fish has a corn meal crust; the tangy coleslaw uses jalapeno and no mayonnaise. The tartar sauce is spicy and looks house made. Pots of ketchup and malt vinegar are also provided. It's a lot of food! The fish pieces were sometimes a little crumbly, because the corn meal doesn't bind together as well as traditional batter. Rather than dip the fish, it was sometimes easier to spread on condiments.
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Other options were a grilled chicken sandwich or a vegetarian sandwich.
My dessert was a 50/50 of citrus fruit granita and ice cream, topped with whipped cream and crushed roasted almonds - very enjoyable when the weather took a break from the June gloom.
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My dining companion had a cup of French onion soup, and the Elements burger, "Santa Barbara style" with grilled onions, bacon, tomato and avocado. These were a la carte items from the menu, not part of the prix fixe options. Mmm, burgers.
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The atmosphere of Elements is mellow and elegant. It's perfect for business lunches, or a book club meet up. I hear there are good cocktails here, although I've never jived with the trend of calling drinks whatever-tini. I like a martini, or a vodka martini. Going into Bellini-tinis, Melon-tini, Pearfect-tini...maybe I'm just not trendy. But I do like innovative cocktails, why not put in another minute of creative thinking and come up with a better name. Anyway, if you're happy hour inclined, their signature cocktail is usually just $5 for the first drink. That's a great deal for being downtown with a view of our lovely courthouse and sunken gardens.
My final note: the lunch menu has gyros! Casual word on the street is that the gyro meat is also house made. I wasn't able to try this for my lunch, but I'm very curious to learn more. The problem is that I probably won't be in the area for a workweek lunch for a while. Anyone give them a try?
Elements Restaurant and Bar
129 East Anapamu St.
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