California Vegetarian

George and I like to meet my sister, Natalie, “half way” for dinner from time to time.  Since we live in the northern Central Valley and she lives in the South Bay, the location of confluence has frequently been Concord, and more times than I can count now, the restaurant has been Luna.

Luna is a small Italian restaurant (it seats about 50 or 60) right off Todos Santos Park, kitty-corner to the half-price bookstore, in Concord.

The fact that we have returned many times is an indication of how much we have enjoyed Luna.  Their menu is actually quite extensive (omnivorously speaking), and their vegetarian options are good, and their wine list is decent.  George and I never leave hungry.

This time around, we started by sharing an order of their “Quattro Formaggi” brushetta ($5.95 for three generous size slices, that is, one piece each). They mix four Italian cheeses and serve them on toasted bread with caramelized onions.  A definite do-over, and clearly an indication that eating vegetarian is not always eating healthy… oh, but it tastes so good!

Next we had the soup for the day.  It was a “Chilled Gazpacho,” (not that I know what other kind of gazpacho there is).  It was quite good.  They chose to serve it with the ingredients blended.  Since we are fans of tomatoes, this one was a win for us at $5.50 a bowl. Plus, we figure the low-fat, high-vegetable ratio of the soup helped balance the brushetta.  (I did go ahead and verify that there was no meat stock in the gazpacho.  I didn’t think that there would be.  After all, cold chicken stock would likely seem pretty nasty to even an omnivore. But I felt like I had to ask since the majority of Luna’s soups are not vegetarian because they are made with meat stock. Happily, this was not the case with the gazpacho.)

Even though there were several vegetarian options, George and I chose the same main course: La Ducale in Parmiggiana (baked grilled eggplant layered with basil, fresh tomato and cheese; $8.50).  It was good and hearty.  It was under their ‘main course’ section.  So, it did not come with pasta, which was a bit of a disappointment to me, but understandable. If I order it again, I may ask for a side of pasta.  There certainly was enough sauce to more than accommodate a little pile of pasta.

Incidentally, Natalie ordered a vegetarian main course, as well. She chose Luna’s gorgonzola penne pasta.  It was served with basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts. She enjoyed it.  I had a taste, and concur that it was good.

For dessert, George chose their signature “Luna” ($6), a cappuccino pecan mousse with a ribbon of fudge topped with chocolate crumbs (it used to come as a ball rolled in the crumbs—this is what the menu still reads). Even I, who does not like coffee, like this dessert. But I like spumone even more, and the spumone at Luna is great.  Consequently, even though I know that Luna does not make their own spumone, I have ordered it the last two times we have been there. Theirs is a combination of pistachio, vanilla and chocolate gelato ($5.50). Natalie chose their special for the night: “Crème Caramel,” which was similar to flan.

After adding the bottle of wine (a very yummy 2005 Concannon Petite Sirah), the bill before tip for the three of us was $111.40.

All in all, I have to say that Luna’s food is very good.  Vegetarians will be happy, and if you are dining with meet eaters, they will be happy, too.  Vegans will struggle a bit. 

However, I need to make a comment about the service. Over the years when we have gone to Luna, we have noticed that the quality of service clearly depends on who is working the floor. There were a couple men who used to wait the tables regularly for us, and they were wonderful. They were not there this month when we returned.  We do not know if we happened to arrive on their night off, or if they are no longer with Luna.  Instead of either of these two superb servers, we were waited on by a middle-aged woman with a bleach-blond flat top (I am sure that I would know her name if she were even a mediocre server, but I do not).  We had been served by her before to the same disappointing results, but it has been a long time.  We are not sure if she is the current owner, the manager, or someone personally connected to the owner, because honestly, it seems that Luna thrives in spite of her. Let me explain the issues with the most recent visit…

George and I arrived ahead of Natalie, who had misread her clock and was running late. We explained that we would be a party of three but wanted to be seated.  After being seated, we were virtually forgotten about. We flagged down the server to request the bottle of wine. She returned with it, opened and poured it, then went about her business (or something). She proceeded to masterfully avoid eye-contact with us until Natalie arrived, to their loss, I might add, because we were trying to get her attention to order some food to start with before/to have waiting when Natalie finally joined us. Mind you, this is in a restaurant that only has two seating areas, with only approximately ten tables where we are seated, and we’d already started drinking our wine. Plus, at this point of the evening, only two other tables on our side are occupied. We were not even brought bread to sup while we drank our wine. In the end, we were only able to coax a smile out of her once. And after observing her with the other patrons, it was clear to us that her dour demeanor was not just directed toward us. I should note that all our food came out hot and in a timely manner once we had finally placed our orders, but with no frill or friendliness from our server.

I mention this server issue because I feel like it is part of the whole picture for Luna. George and I appreciate good service (and reward it appropriately via the tip), but are not completely turned off by poor service.  We will give Luna another try. However, if mediocre service will ruin a night out for you, you may not want to risk Luna.  Even with great vegetarian options, you may not think it is worth it.