You want a quick lunch. And you want a square meal. You can have both, literally, at the Grand Hyatt’s 1876 restaurant, with the “Quick Fire Lunch.”
A cute little appetizer, a dollop of salad, just-right entree and teeny dessert all come on a plate divided into quarters. Sort of TV dinner meets bento box.
Apps: Duck quesadilla, smoked salmon wrapped around potato salad or Asian lettuce wraps.
Soup/salad: Soup of the day, Caesar salad, apple endive salad or mixed greens.
Entree: Angel hair pasta with tomatoes, reuben or smoked turkey and cheddar sandwich or a panini with fresh mozzarella, spinach, tomatoes and pesto.
Dessert: Chef’s choice. The day we were there, it was a darling butterscotch creme brulee.
The lettuce wraps came with strips of ginger-soy sirloin and julienned lettuce and dabs of plum sauce and wasabi mustard. Thin-sliced apples brought a sweet-tart note to the bitter endive salad, rounded out with crumbled feta and a lemon-thyme vinaigrette. The Reuben, often messy and a digestive challenge, was school-lunch size, with the right amount of Thousand Island and sauerkraut. And the tiny tart was as tasty as it was cute.
Executive chef John Treusein says, “This is the way I always eat,” referring to the small portions and bright flavors. In keeping with the restaurant’s “contemporary Western fare” theme, the chef is using local ingredients, including bison, beef and charcuterie.
And in keeping with the “quick fire” promise, it’s all served quickly and you leave satisfied but not stuffed.
1876
Hotel restaurant. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the Grand Hyatt, 1750 Welton St., 303-295-1234.
