What I Ate: February 14, 2009 (Nordstrom's Cafe Bistro)

We slept in today (Valentine's Day), and had a lazy start to the day. Around 4pm, we ended up at Nordstrom's Cafe Bistro (2400 Forest Avenue, San Jose, CA‎ - (408) 248-2180‎) at Valley Fair. I wanted to try this place since I've never eaten in a department store and had read good reviews for their pizza and sandwiches. We were both excited to try something new.

The format was interesting, you just walk in and stand in line at the cashier while looking at paper menus (like brochures). Once at the cashier, you tell them what you want, they charge you, and you wander around the nicely appointed dining area to decide on a seat and/or waiter. After sitting down, you put down the bill holder that the cashier handed you (which is odd since I'm used to seeing the bill holder/presenter only at the end of a meal) and your waiter comes by and picks up the bill in its holder.

Our waitress was polite, super-friendly, and enthusiastic (seemed like she genuinely enjoyed being there). She verified the drinks we had ordered and brought them to us quickly. We had ordered a few items to try out starting with a Ratatouille Pizza with Chicken. I had hoped for a thin-crust pizza with a crispy crust (like that from South Beach Cafe), but it was not to be. It was the next best thing however. The crust was thin, the dough slightly salty and a little chewy, the bottom was soft but not limp and oily (like the other thin crust pizzas we've had in the South Bay). Decent and tasty.


We also ordered a Club Sandwich that came with their fries. The chicken in the club sandwich was about a 1/4-in. thick and we thought that was a little thickly cut (it would have been better thinly sliced and slathered with some mayo or sauce). With a thick piece of chicken breast in the middle of the sandwich, it felt a little dry and bland. The fries same with an olive tapenade which was quite delicious.

We also ordered a Vine Ripe Vegetable Salad which was tasty with its tomatoes (a couple different varieties, all of middling flavor), hearts of palm, asparagus, feta cheese, red onions, cucumbers and chips made of lavash bread.

After lunch, we went home and I read to Tina for a few hours (Watchmen). Then I made some cornbread and ate some leftover Chinese food with that. (I don't know why, I just decided to make cornbread… then I saw the Chinese food and didn't want to eat the rice that came with the Chinese food…)