The feeling of relaxation I experience whenever I visit Old Vine Café is palpable. The sensation begins before I even walk in the little café.
It is in a corner of the Camp, tucked away in the back of the eclectic shopping plaza. The pines and redwoods that provide both shade and seclusion are invitingly out of place for a strip mall.
A gigantic wind chime hangs on a branch on one of the pines, and on my most recent visit, the Santa Ana winds’ caresses provided melodic background music.
The seats outside share in the peacefulness and, though I usually eat out there, I chose to go inside this time, picking a spot where I could still see the outside.
The menus are the creation of Chef Mark McDonald, who, along with his brother, Brandon, own and run the restaurant. The selections are incredibly inventive, and I like that the menu gets rotated occasionally to bring out new dishes.
Even though the bistro has only been open a little more than a year, it has continually evolved and often for the better.
A good introduction to the café would be lunch. The menu is limited, but has some solid and interesting choices.
Panini sandwiches dominate the lunch menu, and I was attracted to the Reuben. It was the traditional sandwich with a few twists. The first obviously is the bread, not the usual rye or sourdough and the ciabatta is a much better choice.
The most unique choice was the Gruyere cheese. It is a much more mellow cheese than Swiss and bumps the sandwich up in class considerably.
Even the sauerkraut used is different. It wasn’t as tart as commercial sauerkraut and again improved the sandwich.
The biggest surprise, however, was the Russian dressing. The sweetness of the dressing is a big turnoff for me, but McDonald has added horseradish to it and made it addictive.
The sandwich was so good it didn’t need any sauce, but I found myself dipping into it anyway. If I had ordered the chips instead of the field greens I could have used those to dip as well.
Breakfast items are carefully thought out and McDonald’s creativity is allowed to shine.
The Mexican omelet has queso ranchero, salsa fresco and cilantro, making it one of my favorites.
A must-have at breakfast is anything off the sweet menu. Pumpkin pecan French toast, apple cinnamon crepe or cheese mousse crepe are definitely items that should be sampled.
