Easy Being Green

Tender Greens lets carnivores and vegans munch from the same trough.
by Jackie Lam

If areas of our beloved Los Angeles were represented as stock characters in a teen horror flick, where Santa Monica would play the part of the prissy prom queen and Silver Lake was the reluctantly adored art brat, Culver City would be the steely-eyed, makeshift monster. It is a chimera of sorts, comprised of genetically-engineered art galleries protruding from a skeletal frame of banal suburban neighborhoods. And as I make my way to Tender Greens, a freshly sprung restaurant in downtown Culver City, this civic amalgamation becomes magnified. I pass oversized, historic grandfather clocks that are planted on the sidewalk before hearing a crosswalk signal automaton counting the seconds.

I find myself part of a queue of diners that runs out the door of Tender Greens, a new hybrid establishment that toots the “local, eco-sustainable” horn, offering California cuisine, local, fresh produce and naturally raised meats in fast-food fashion. One end is a deli-style counter and grill with a hurried bustle of order taking and salad making, while the rest of the place is a summery retreat. Neat, shiny bins topple with a panoply of vegetables, nuts and cheeses in front of a kitchen manned by salad tossers and griller extraordinaires. They work furiously; steel bowls spin, toppling with romaine and raw spinach leaves, as they deftly squirt vinaigrette from plastic condiment bottles. Away from the action in the seating area sit potted plants with long stalks of rosemary and thyme and wooden benches with pillows of tangerine and mint green stripes. Sitting next to the huge, open windows is like stepping into a spread of Sunset Living’s “Beach Summer” section.

Their menu is simple and straightforward: small or “simple” salads, a good near-dozen “big” salads, seasonal soups, and desserts. There are four mesquite-grilled goodies you can add to the mix: free-range chicken, line-caught ahi tuna and Oxnard vegetables. And you can add any of the grilled items to the small salads, or have it wedged as a sandwich, or what’s called a “hot plate,” with mashed potatoes and a side order of salad. And the mathematically troubled can rest assured, as it’s the same price for each type of entrée.

After a failed attempt to psych out my server with a tall order and finding a seat on their patio, I sip on their sweet, tangy lemonade ($2.50) served with tiny bits of mint. As it’s nearing peak dinner hours, the line out the door grows longer. Everyone from scruffy, messenger-bag slingin’ twentysomethings to older sophisticates with their preened grandchildren look at the menu on the wall, eagerly awaiting their turn in the hole.

I start on the Angus flatiron steak hot plate ($10) with a side salad. Other salads with vinaigrette dressings include baby arugula with balsamic or butter lettuce with Dijon, and after wistful indecisiveness, I go for the baby spinach with cabernet dressing. Accompanied by Yukon mashed potatoes—a buttery affair—the meat is grilled to a pinkish medium well, dribbling with its natural juices and heightened by a savory smokiness. The cabernet vinaigrette of the baby spinach “simple salad” is light, blanketing the cute clumps of goat cheese and fragments of hazelnuts with a mild sweetness.

The large salads ($9) are more complex, from requisites such as the grilled chicken Caesar and Chinese chicken salad to signature offerings such the ahi tuna nicoise with generous slabs of the lightly grilled fish, and a piquant jumble of zesty capers, and tangy black olives mixed with crisp red and green leaf lettuce. Their chipotle barbecue chicken salad is pleasantly subtle with BBQ sauce, thin, streamer-like tortilla strips, and creamy lime dressing. The soup of the day ($4) featured flavorful roasted roma tomato bread festively topped with clove and chicken with lemon thyme.

For vegetarians there’s “The Happy Vegan,” a sampler-like palette of limey pasta pearls, farrow wheat in a light vinaigrette and Mediterranean staples tabbouleh and hummus. There’s also “salad in the raw,” veggies such as thinly sliced radishes, squash and carrots with “living dressing.” No, it’s not concocted from live insects or organs to spook “green fiends,” but rather a supple mixture of honey and apple cider.

The desserts ($3) are delightfully perched in miniature plastic cake coverlets near the registers. The carrot top frosted cupcake is more like a spongey cookie with all the carrot cake goodies and a thick layer of vanilla topping. And don’t get me started on the devil’s food cupcake with toffee crunch bits.

It’s nice here. You can observe the posh patrons at Ford’s Filling Station across the way, shoot the breeze with older couples who sit at the bench table next to you. And because it’s the middle of summer, and the warm, stifling air can make one feel a bit stir-crazy, uncharacteristically gregarious or both, Tender Greens is a place you can either pick up your food and go, or languish for hours in the glow of sunlit corners, pretending you’re in the full page spread of a gourmet foodie mag. LAA

Location: 9523 Culver Blvd., Culver City.
Phone: (310) 842-8300
Vibe: Conducive to chit-chatting with strangers.
Service: Friendly plus.
Price: Small salads, $5-9; soups, $4; large salads; $9, sandwiches, $ 9, plates, $10; desserts, $3; wine and ales, $4-8, non-alcoholic drinks, $1.50-3.
Recommended dishes: Angus flatiron steak hot plate, salad in the raw, chipotle barbecue chicken salad, devil’s food cupcake.
Etc.: Open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; outdoor patio, two-hour free parking in structure on Cardiff; street parking on Culver Blvd.
Overall: 4 out of 5