At last! A site in Salt Lake where you can get a great meal and have your aura adjusted in one convenient location. It's the Oasis Cafe, adjacent to the new Golden Braid bookstore, and even if you're not into New Age practices or philosophy, it's worth a visit. The food is not only healthful and artistically presented, it's delicious as well.
The newly constructed building was designed to offer a "healing space," or an "oasis" to the community, according to owners Jackie Pratt and Stephen Paul. With its beautifully polished woods, treated cement floors, patios, sky lights, French doors and fireplace, it's actually very relaxing. I dined there on one of those hectic days when I was too busy to even apply makeup, yet I felt perfectly comfortable. Perhaps it was the steaming mug of the tea of the day, a fragrant blackberry sage, which immediately calmed my nerves.Or perhaps it was the "candle of consciousness" that was deftly lit as we sat down. "What's with that?" I asked our server, who resembled a perfectly coiffed John F. Kennedy Jr., except for the one embroidery floss-wrapped lock that swished gracefully down the back of his head.
"The white candle represents purity and virtue. As it burns, it releases those into the air," he told us sincerely. That was fine with me. One can never have too much purity and virtue.
I was completely intrigued by the colorful concoctions that were being carefully carried to the tables around us. "I'll have what he's having," I told our server, when I spied what looked like a troll castle on a plate. It ended up being the "Winter Vegetable Parfait," with garlic mashed potatoes, rosemary jus and scallion aioli, for $11.25. Perhaps more appropriately named "The Leaning Tower O' Veggies in Outer Space," it consisted of a cloud of mashed potatoes with layer after graduated layer of deliciously seasoned pumpkin, zucchini, onions and tomatoes, topped off with a pointed squiggle of spaghetti squash, surrounded by a festive kaleidoscope of the aforementioned green and red sauces. You can't help but play with your food here, making windows, doors, bridges and moats in it, but that's all right. The presentation is whimsical although not impractical. Nothing is strictly for show, it's all edible, nutritious and quite tasty.
Even the rice was served in a spire with a thin, crisp, fried potato bridge arching across the plate to the halibut. I found I preferred the vegetable dishes to the fish, however. While you'll find no beef, pork or fowl here, they do offer smoked, pan-seared salmon, "Navajo-spiced tuna," (which struck me as quite creative, since I sincerely doubt traditional Navajos had access to that particular ocean fish), and a special of the day. My halibut was listed as the latter, and was grease-laden and bland.
Come to think of it, the other fish dish I sampled was also less than perfect. It was the California Sushi Roll appetizer, for $6.25, filled with salmon, crab meat and avocado, with ponzu and kimchee on the side. The fish was sparse, and the little soft ball of wasabe that came with it was all too reminiscent of something you might have fashioned with your fingers out of crustless Wonder Bread and green food coloring, when you were about seven. There comes a time when food is over processed and presented.
This is not the case with the wonderful roasted Morroccan Squash Soup, however. More like a puree than a broth, it has a deliciously sweet curry flavor about it, and it's garnished only with roasted seeds mounded on top, for $1.95 for a cup, $3.05 for a bowl. The salads, too, are works of art, both visually and delectably. I tried the mixed green, with lemon vinaigrette, sweet herbs, sugary spiced walnuts, a blue cheese crisp and an intriguing, tissue-thin ruffle of green apple. The contrasting flavors worked so well together I would have been content to dine solely on that, $3.50 for a small, $4.50 for a large.
You might want to finish off the meal with one of the freshly roasted brews or a cup of yogurt, and leave the pastries and desserts alone. It is possible to make light, fluffy, beautifully baked goods out of whole wheat flour and other wholesome ingredients, but the Oasis hasn't quite mastered that. Don't let that deter you from dining there, however. It can be a supremely cosmic experience.
Rating: * * *
The Oasis Cafe, 151 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City, 322-1162. Open for breakfast Monday through Friday 7-10:30 a.m., Saturdays and Sundays 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Open for lunch every day from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner is served Sunday through Thursday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5:30-10 p.m. Special afternoon light fare and light night fare is also available until midnight. Checks and credit cards are accepted.