Carolyn Fath
The snacky ultimate platter (left) and blueberry thyme raw cheesecake go together well.
You may not know it, but the Green Owl has company.
Surya Cafe, in the Agora building in Fitchburg’s business/tech park, features a vegetarian — in fact, almost entirely vegan — menu. It joins the Green Owl as one of two vegetarian restaurants in greater Madison. The menu is also gluten-free and the food is made without processed sugar.
Surya, which opened in April, is an offshoot of Perennial Yoga, and housed in the same space. The cafe is serene, as you might expect. There’s regular table seating as well as a few low tables with cushions instead of chairs. Our favorite spot was in a room off the back, with charming counter spots providing a lovely view of the prairie garden.
The cafe is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast standbys like waffles and porridge are not quite what they would be in a standard diner. The waffle is gluten-free; the porridge is quinoa and oats simmered in coconut milk. The Hearty Bowl, with roasted sweet potatoes mixed in a hash with black beans, kale and avocado, is finished with a zippy cilantro-lime dressing. Served in a delicate, small bowl, it may not look hearty at first glance, especially to those used to big breakfast plates, but it does the trick.
The smoothie menu has creative flavor pairings like tropical mint (with spinach, mango, pineapple and ginger) and chunky monkey (with peanut butter, banana, almond milk and cocoa). The carrot cake smoothie was delightful — somehow a combination of carrot, apple, banana, dates and coconut milk tasted similar to the real deal, but without all the extra calories. You can upgrade to a smoothie bowl with toppings like granola and fresh fruit.
The fresh-pressed juices kickstart the day, too, and would be especially refreshing after a workout in the yoga studio. The Sunrise mixes apple, orange, carrot, turmeric, lemon and ginger — so many good things all in one glass.
I should be transparent: I eat meat, and cheeseburgers rank high on my list of favorite foods. But I also like to broaden my food horizons. Ironically, I was disappointed with the one non-vegan item on the menu: duck egg quiche. I was impressed with how well the quinoa crust held together, but it was overly crispy and dry, as was the egg filling, which was also remarkably flavorless, despite the addition of mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and spinach. The accompanying mixed greens salad was a nice side, but the vinaigrette was heavy on the garlic, to the point of being too spicy.
At lunch, the curried chickpea sandwich, served on delicious housemade multi-seed and nut gluten-free bread, is a nice alternative to the typical chicken salad sandwich. The chickpeas are both mashed and whole, which makes for a texture both creamy and chewy, all enlivened with a bit of curry. Other lunch items include a beet burger, a Southwest bowl and several salads.
The Ultimate Platter was my ideal lunch, with a variety of snacks arranged beautifully on a wooden board. Apple slices were paired with homemade peanut butter for dipping, walnut pate sprinkled with pepitas came with that same great seed and nut bread, and large carrot slices partnered with the housemade hummus. That hummus was absolutely dreamy — so smooth and balanced I could have eaten it alone with a spoon.
Of the three well-conceived dinner entrees, by far my favorite was the zucchini noodle alfredo. The sauce, made of roasted cauliflower and cashew cream, could pass for alfredo sauce, but is so much healthier. Tossed with slivers of roasted portabella mushrooms, halved grape tomatoes and asparagus spears, and topped with toasted pecan “parmesan” crumbles, the zoodles were extraordinary.
Both the Swimming Angels and the Abundance Bowl are brown rice dishes with generous portions of fresh vegetables like broccoli florets, carrots and kale. While the Swimming Angels did have a topping of peanuts and cilantro, the sauce seemed to be more of the cashew cream, despite the menu noting a peanut sauce. Either way, it worked. The Abundance Bowl brings in some complex flavors from pickled red onion, an Asian slaw of carrot and red cabbage, shiitake mushrooms and sesame seeds, all finished nicely with ginger miso dressing. The tart-sweet combination of this dish made it quite enjoyable.
Save room for dessert because the raw cheesecake is not to be missed, with rotating flavors depending on what’s available at market that week. Ours was a silky cashew-cream filling enhanced with rhubarb and berries, surrounded by a nut crust and drizzled with a bright berry sauce.
The food at Surya is impressive and nourishing. Chef Lauren Montelbano has a talent for creating dishes that are renewing for the spirit as well as the body. Combine that with the experience of yoga in the studio and a walk along the beautiful grounds, and you may come away feeling like you were at a weekend retreat.
Surya Café
5500 E. Cheryl Pkwy., Fitchburg; 608-288-8448; perennial-yoga.com
$4-$14; 7 am-8 pm Mon.-Fri., 8 am-8pm Sat., 8 am-2 pm Sun.
