Chartreuse is a fairly large place with a predominantly green theme.  Green walls work nicely with the bare wood tables and natural wall decorations which include live and dried plants.  Ceilings are high with exposed ductwork but noise level was not a problem since the place was not that full at lunch.  A table of lovely fresh produce is next to the entrance to greet you and bottles of Chartreuse fill the shelves over the bar to set the tone. Tables are nicely spaced and modern music is in the background.  There are a number of high back booth like seating areas with low tables adjacent to the bar.  The bar is ‘L’ shaped with the short part being in front of the actual liquor and the long part set for diners.  Service is friendly, efficient and helpful.  

 

We started with the ‘Last Word Gin’ cocktail that included Chartreuse green, lime and marashino.  It was nice and a refreshing kick off to a nice meal.

 

At lunch they have a smaller menu than dinner and all is a la carte.  The Snap Pea salad had sliced snap peas, yellow wax beans, banana peppers, radish, hard-boiled duck egg, pea tendrils and sesame tuile.  The vegetables were quite fresh and well-flavored but for my tastes it was underdressed and the vegetables could have benefitted from a bit more cooking and salt.   The vegetables were so crunchy you didn’t need the tasty crisp sesame cracker to give it texture but it was tasty.

 

The Arugula salad included almonds, raisins, pea tendrils and blue cheese.  It was nicely dressed with a blackberry maple vinaigrette, that set off the ingredients well.  Everything blended well in the dish and the bacon bits were particularly tasty.

 

The Fish Sandwich was made with Lake Erie whitefish.  It was fried with a lovely crispy crust and topped with a well dressed brussels sprout slaw.  The bun had been nicely grilled but the real secret of this sandwich was the blueberry mostarda.  It added a little sweetness but mostly just set off all the other ingredients to move the sandwich to a wonderful combination of flavors and textures.  It is served with housemade chips that look better than they were but are okay.  A winner here.

 

The Lamb Burger was cooked perfectly rare and was also nicely sauced with tzatziki but overall did not have the savory component that the fish sandwich did.  It was also served with the housemade chips.  The bun was nicely grilled, the tzatziki had a strong dill flavor and the lamb was perfectly moist to yield a nice but less exciting sandwich.

 

For dessert we tried the Vanilla Pudding, a favorite of the waitress, and she was not wrong.  It had a wonderfully smooth and creamy texture and was topped with lemon basil syrup and some rosemary basil cookies.  A little bourbon chantilly cream finished out the lovely dish.  The slight saltiness of the cookie blended perfectly with the sweet pudding.  A very good choice here.

 

The Cookie Sandwich was 2 chocolate cookies filled with sweet cherry mascarpone but the cookies were too crumbly to allow you to pick up the item.  It was served alongside a shot glass of espresso milk which was not very coffee flavored and actually a bit bland.  The filling in the sandwich was just okay and while this one was perfectly edible it didn’t sing.

 

We finished the meal with a complimentary shot glass of Chartreuse that was very aromatic and a lovely end to the meal.