Okay, this didn't start out to be a review. I took my sweet bride out to lunch today to celebrate her birthday, and with all the fancy spots we might have gone, Cafe Lou Lou felt just right ... and it was!
The food was excellent - funky Caesars with spicy croutons. That amazing blue cheese polenta with portabellos and roast red pepper sauce. And for me, a frequently recurring special, penne pasta sauced with lots of perfect little shrimp and a bodaciously delicious tarragon cream, also with just a touch of piquant spice. Mixed-berry sorbet that tasted just like eating frozen fresh fruit ... and a special little treat, some of Marsha's famous coconut cake to bring home and stick a candle in!
Okay, so that's Cafe Lou Lou. But as these good folks get ready to open their Highlands branch (next month?), I find myself wondering: Just what is the secret that makes this casual spot so very special? I can think of very, very few foodies I know of who don't care for it, and a huge majority - including, I think, most forumites - are just absolutely smitten with it. One thing's for sure: It's so popular that it's slammed. In this economy, how many places really need reservations for
lunch?
I've got plenty of ideas of my own, but rather than prime the pump, as I consider possibly writing an essay about this to mark the opening of Lou Lou Deux
, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. If you love Cafe Lou Lou, what specifically makes you love it? And if you were a restaurateur hoping to kick things up a notch and build the kind of loyal crowd that Lou Lou boasts, which of their concepts would you replicate first?