Chic Eats at Café Sweet Street

August 27, 2015

11:23 AM

Cool, light, and reminiscent of an airy museum café in Manhattan, this indoor-outdoor restaurant destination is located right on the premises of one of the most famous businesses in Reading — Sweet Street, whose Key Lime Pie and Caramel Apple Granny are lusciously legendary. The company’s desserts land on menus in more than 60 countries.

Behind the scenes, their R & D chefs create hundreds of tasty projects on a regular basis. How incredibly fortunate, then, are Berks Countians to be the first dining audience to savor Chef Brendan Jones’ breakfast, lunch and private dinners?

“I’ll do 300 people for lunch on a daily basis,” says the tall, confident chef with his big, easy smile. “It’s fun. And my staff does such an amazing job, especially considering the menu is set up to be customizable.” Chef Brendan has been guiding every step of Sweet Street’s multi-phased reconstruction process, culminating in this extraordinary café. The outdoor garden dining space, for example, brings country to the city, with more than 3,000 botanicals: seasonal flowers, shrubs, blueberry bushes (40 of them), tall grasses and — right next to an authentic Italian pizza oven — savory herbs. “The basil goes right onto the Margarita Pizza,” says the chef.

The Organic Mushroom White Pizza is a joy to behold, smell and taste. Three types of flavorful mushrooms — shiitake, cremini and blue oyster — are oven-roasted with olive oil and thyme, then laid tenderly with the Gruyere Béchamel cheese sauce and topped by curly bits of flash-fried organic kale. As you bite into the crust, a special 3-day sourdough invention, notes of thyme and cheese mingle with the textured earthiness of mushrooms and kale. It’s a unique effect of crisp and soft, intense and subtle, single and blended.

House-made sodas, served in Ball jars with colorful straws, are a beverage experience. For a super-cool, clear feeling, order the Cucumber-Basil-Mint variety with its cucumber base, where a hint of mint and the presence of basil kick each other. A fruity choice that’s similarly cleansing, satisfyingly fresh, and definitely addictive is the Raspberry-Lemon soda. Each sip seems to hold each flavor separately, so you’re swallowing parallel streams of rich raspberry and zingy lemon, carried by gentle bubbles of club soda.

Always a Backstory

A Mediterranean Salad Platter is both sassy and subtle in authentic Lebanese style (Chef Brendan credits time in Philly, where he worked for a Lebanese family in the restaurant business). His Tabouli is green-dominant, as it’s loaded with chopped parsley, dotted with lemony cracked wheat and red-sweet with diced tomatoes. The Baba Ghannouj is stunningly delicious. The secret of a great baba lies in bringing out the tender, sweet goodness of eggplant the old-fashioned way. “The whole eggplant is placed on the grill,” explains Chef, “until it’s ready, and then peeled. That’s what gives it the juicy, charred flavor.” The falafel patties, too, live in mind and memory long after the initial bite, as they deliver a slow heat. Cool off by dipping into the piquant tzatziki sauce.

The classic American Egg Salad is a winner with its chopped red peppers and hint of Dijon. It comes on greens or a very Parisian-tasting croissant. Indeed, Sweet Street has studied and perfected the art of croissant-making, so if you are missing European baked goods, head here. (And yes, of course, they do make chocolate croissants… Mwa!) As for the uniquely tasty eggs, consider that they come from a farm with free-range chickens guarded — get this — by a big white Newfoundland dog. It’s true.

If food can be Asian music, then the Chinois Chicken Salad is both symphony and cacophony. The first, because it brings many tastes and textures together in splendid harmony; the second, because the 10+ ingredients — including pulled chicken, snowpeas, Napa and red cabbages, romaine, and carrots — each scream for recognition as separate elements and achieve it. Ginger sesame dressing sings of China, even as fresh basil and peanuts carry notes from Thailand.

California, Here I Come

Chef Brendan’s California Turkey Sandwich layers slices of smoked turkey with generous arcs of bright green avocado, then crowns this with crisp, nutty sunflower sprouts. Add roasted red pepper pesto “butter” to a grilled whole-grain roll, and you’ve got a revolutionized, gourmet version of a meal that traces back to the 60s.

Hamburgers are build-your-own, made with Black Angus edge-charred to intensify the flavor experience. Still in an avocado mood? Go for a California-themed burger on a brioche roll, strikingly hand-branded with the Sweet Street logo, sitting high amidst sliced tomato, greens, Vermont cheddar, and an outstandingly silky avocado spread. This burger says, “Here ya go! Be happy.”

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