Lafayette Place Is a Stunner

The first time I went to The Lafayette Place I had some concerns. As a former vegetarian who loves her cheese, I couldn’t help wondering: if The Lafayette Place is 100% vegan, what about cheese and eggs and dairy, the tasty pillars of vegetarian cuisine? I’ve tried to appreciate tofu-based dishes masquerading as the real deal like the popular “Impossible Burger” and failed. Could The Lafayette Place bring new life to plant-based dishes that could please not just vegans, but vegetarians, and carnivores? The answer is a resounding YES. And, I write that with some authority as I’ve tasted half the dishes on the brief but diverse menu.

It’s relevant to note that The Lafayette Place has the same owners as The National Café, a popular breakfast-lunch restaurant in Walker’s Point. Angela Wierzbinski and Amy Plennes know how to use quality ingredients and what to do with them to put delicious food on the table.

For example, the Cheesy Hash, served in a bowl had a mix of perfectly roasted potatoes and veggies, chorizo, melted Violife cheese, and to top it off, a spicy chipotle sauce was drizzled on top. The plant-based cheese tasted like the dairy version, and the chipotle sauce pulled everything together in a celebration of the best of vegan cuisine. A couple slices of avocado added creamy and cool, a counterpoint to the spicy chipotle.

The restaurant’s version of avocado toast was not an average breakfast/brunch dish. The chef layered two slices of toasted Rocket Baby sourdough with the usual suspects, avocado and sliced tomato and then it got interesting with the addition of everything bagel seasoning, pickled red onion, and arugula. Like the chipotle sauce on the Cheesy Hash, a generous drizzle of sweet reduced balsamic elevated the toast to perfection.

The Veggie Burrito, stuffed with more of those roasted veggies plus black beans, corn, tofu scramble, and rice, also included the chipotle sauce to moisten and flavor the burrito. The House Potatoes were crisp and nicely browned and the Pico De Gallo tasty and fresh. The homemade Cinnamon Roll was the frosting on the cake. This sweet rich moist roll, abundantly coated with vanilla frosting, made a lovely breakfast dessert.

Two entrees, the Classic and the Full English Breakfast, included the tofu scramble. These imitation scrambled eggs failed to live up to any semblance of scrambled eggs even though they were appropriately yellow, not because they were pseudo eggs, but because the tofu was barely warm, perhaps because it was cut into tiny pieces. On the plus side, the juicy Impossible Sausage Patties tasted exactly like sausage, a surprise. Both breakfasts were served with Rocket Baby sourdough and butter, another surprise. It tasted like the dairy-based butter, only better, because it was silky and spreadable.

On a second visit, my companions and I turned the menu over and ordered drinks. The Peach Basil Smoothie was a thick blend of peaches, bananas, and basil that left no doubt about the inclusion of basil followed by a strong presence of banana and peach mixed into freshly squeezed orange juice. From a short list of libations, we ordered a Mimosa and a Brunch Old Fashioned. The Mimosa was good, bubbly as expected. The Old Fashioned was extraordinary. The addition of cold-brewed coffee gave it a depth of flavor that made it unlike a typical Old Fashioned found at a local bar.

Other libations included wines (one red, a white and a rose’), Lavender Vodka Lemonade, and for non-alcoholics, Cold Brew Coffee, Café Au Lait, Rishi Tea and Chai Latte. Anodyne coffee is available for $2.50 with unlimited free refills.

The Lafayette Place is tiny, just six tables and six seats at the bar. You can use the QR code at your table to scan the menu, order, and pay, or, you can request a paper menu and pay at the counter. Either way, you prepay, a convenience if you are in a hurry to leave as soon as you finish eating.

I’m humbled. Turns out you can make delicious vegan food sans eggs, dairy, and Wisconsin cheese. If you don’t believe this, come down to Farwell and check out The Lafayette Place. I might be there, sitting at the bar with a Brunch Old Fashioned, a Cinnamon Roll, and a bowl of Cheesy Hash. It’s that kind of neighborhood place, easy to like and as the owners wrote on the menu, “Where the East Side Meets and Eats.”

On The Menu

The Rundown

• Location: 1978 N. Farwell Ave.
• Phone: 414-31-3030
• Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Thu-Sun
• Neighborhood: Lower East Side
• Website: http://lafayetteplacemke.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelafayetteplace/
• UM Rating: stars (average of Yelp, Trip Advisor and Zomato)