Chop it up, spin it, dress it down, oh nooo

I am but a simple girl with simple tastes, and it does not take much to please me. Hershey's makes me just as happy, if not more so, than a fancy $5 white chocolate liquored truffle. If offered a bowl of humble oatmeal ($5 for a gigantic, trough-sized barrel at CostCo) alongside seafood eggs Benedict, I'll dive for the porridge. Oh, and I put ketchup on my eggs.

Armed with these lowly culinary expectations, I feel it is my duty to introduce you to my new favorite restaurant on earth. I ate there while in NYC for the Today Show. I went there on the strong recommendation of an editor who lives and breathes New York and knows all the hotspots.

It is called Just Salad.

Quite simply, it is just salad. That is all you get. But it is the most glorious salad out there. You pick your base (arugula! spinach! mixed Spring greens!) and then you are presented with a dizzying array of toppings - there must have been 100 of them, I swear. It was like being at a penny candy store in the old days, but with delicious, nutritious vegetation for miles. And yes, despite the fact I am only 32, I do know what being in a penny candy store was like: My Auntie Betsy took me to one as a child in Boston and I was given a single dollar to spend on month's worth of rootbeer barrels and chocolate-covered peanuts and other assorted treasures.

The smell of sweet corn and crisp celery intoxicated me (at Just Salad, I mean - not the candy store) as I dreamily called out vegetable after vegetable to the God-like, plastic-gloved woman behind the counter. Beets! Avocado! Apples! Edamamae! BUTTERNUT SQUASH! Feta...grilled chicken...the list seemed endless. Native businessmen and women snaked around me, numb to the gastronomical orgasm taking place in my belly. I imagine that to them, dining at Just Salad is a bit like working the teacups at Disney World or posing naked for Playboy. Constant exposure sucks the magic and intrigue out of the experience and it becomes just another part of your day.

Then, in a stunning move, my Salad Artiste (my title, not hers) whipped out a genius semi-circular, triple-bladed knife-like took, dumping out my salad and toppings on a board and just going to town...sawing, chopping, I don't know her exact technique. It was like the salad equivalent of Cold Stone Creamery. My greens got shredded to bite-sized bits, mixed with dressing and returned to my bowl; the multicolored gem was handed over the sneeze-guard counter to me and I paid the most well-spent $10.19 I have ever paid for a salad. My most perfect salad ever.

Quite sadly, we don't have anything like this in Chicago, with the exception of Chop It Up in the suburbs, which I was lucky enough to visit with Grandpa Morty last month. I smell a franchising opportunity...could I be the woman to bring Just Salad to the midwest? Chef Laura, Goddess creator of this phenomenon - call me!!!

Anyone else experience this culinary sensation? Are you as in love as I am? Or have all the antioxidants gone to my head, rendering me delusional?

PS Kudos to all who recognized the thinly-veiled and none-too-clever Bell Biv DeVoe blog post reference. It is late and I am tired.

Comments

that sounds awesome. I don't eat salad, because I think I don't like it - until I have a good one. then I eat them for weeks.

Ooooh that sounds sooooo good. We don't seem to really believe in salads over here, generally...order a salad and you're likely to be presented with a plate full of iceberg with some tomatoes and cucumber slices, or some sloppy mayonnaise laden mess with pasta or potatoes. Of course that's a huge generalisation, but sadly often the case.

That said, the exceptions are always magnificent surprises...I need a whole lot of extras for a salad to feel like the main and not the supporting act...

Man that sounds fricking awesome! I think I'm the only person I know who genuinely LOVES salad. Seriously, I could talk about my salad love for days. Most people I know consider it a side dish, but it can totally be the be all and end all of a meal.
We have quite a few good salad chains here in Sydney but Just Salad sounds even better, i'm so J-Lo!

damn.

I need to get out more.

a lot more.

or get to chi-town.
I miss nary a bell biv devoe reference but miss a lot of fancy new restaurant ideas...

In schaumburg, there was a restaurant called sweet tomoatos that was..pretty amazing.
You walk in and are presented with this mile long salad bar, and you pay at the end, but can go back for as much salad as you want. Its all healthy, fresh, organic, delicious, and other nice things. There was also a bakery section that had a number of home-made tasting soups, and I haven't been able to find a chili or tomoato bisque quite as delicious.
Miss that place.. :( Doesn't sound as good as your find, though.

I would go wild for this place. I may live in the UK but that won't stop me going to check out their website and stealing all their ingredient ideas and making my own!

TA x

There are actually a really large number of places that do that wonderful salad trick here in NYC. Chains include Hale and Hearty soups and Devon and Blakely, but a lot of more independent small sandwich shops have gotten in on the act. And I agree - they are absolutely wonderful!

Aiiieeeeee!!! I ate there when I went to NY last April! In fact, I was so ecstatic about all the food choices that I took pictures. Of the assembly line. And the workers. And myself eating. Oh yes I did. My sister thought I'd gone off my rocker.

And ever since I have dreamed about opening a similar place here.

Oh - and I used to LIVE for the penny candy store. And I'm younger than you (not by much) so they haven't been gone that long!

I'm so jealous! That sounds incredible! I'd probably make everyone in line behind me so mad though because I'd take forever to make a decision! Yum!!!

I have been to a similar place (the name is escaping me...) and it was divine! So many choices, so many salad combinations! I actually bought a bowl/chopper like they use for home to make my own chopped salads and it is perhaps one of the best inventions EVER!

We have Doc Green's in Atlanta (and the aforementioned Sweet Tomatoes). They don't have quite the selection of this place but it is a nice fresh option. I found myself resenting paying $10 for a salad though. I have been just as pleased in the past with my Chick-
Fil-A salad.

Those always sound so good to me in theory...and then I load up my salad with everything but the sneeze-guard and it's just kind of okay.

However, that wouldn't stop me from trying this place if one were nearby.

And I'm loving a little BBD in the morning.

I live in Chicago too, and on the corner of Lincoln/Wellington/Southport there is a place called Pockets where you can design your own salad - definitely not as exciting as the place you went to, but they have a decent amount of topping options (and they shred the lettuce!).

You know, we have a place like that here in Charleston (believe it or not!) and I swear I want to say it's actually the same place...but I'm not sure. Haven't been there (obviously) but have been "meaning to". Based on this review, I am definitely going to check it out very soon. I love salad when it's done well, hate it when it's done badly (you wouldn't think there'd be that big a range of quality, but my goodness, there is).

Love the BBD reference, too, Miz. I remember when "you can do me in the morning you can do me in the night" was the HEIGHT of scandal! Today, that's downright tame. :-)

V.

Jennifer - I love Pockets! I almost have my 12 stamps to get a free one! Good call...

I'm all for bringing something 'Just Salad' to the Midwest - just don't forget about Indiana! :P

Wow, that sounds awesome! I wonder if there are any here, on the other coast...

There is a place like that in downtown seattle, and i usually ask for half the base, so I can pile on the veggies. lettuce is just filler anyway.

Kelly Turner
www.groundedfitness.com

Sounds great. I love salads, but I've always felt they were better when someone else made them (like sandwiches.) I often go to Sweet Tomatoes where I live, but this place sounds even better!

That sounds wonderful! I want one of those near my house!

I also tend to really enjoy very basic foods. So tasty and simple!

That sounds awesome! I'm really picky about my salads. Next time I'm in NYC, I should try that. I've been to Sweet Tomatoes, but they didn't have that cool chopping and mixing thing, which is a big part of what makes the whole idea appealing to me...

Mmmm....sounds amazing! Surprisingly, here in Indianapolis we have a place called "When Eddie Met Salad" (hahahaha) that sounds very similar. It's like a great, big salad bar...only they do all the work putting it together and the ingredients are a billion times better. Love it!

yum. i love a good salad, made by someone other than me

Another great place in NYC & DC (same concept, and older I believe) is Chop't. In the UK there is Chop'd. Super Fab!

I love Just Salad! I lived right around the corner from one this summer in New York. I probably ended up eating there three times a week! With so many options, you can't get sick of the place!

Hi,

I live in chicago too and there is a similar place called Salad spinners downtown. URL: http://www.saladspinners.com/ The salads are amazing! Thanks.