I stopped here once before, a long long time ago after it had just opened... only to find it was closed during it's normal business hours. Probably just a fluke; a new business blunder. I meet with a \"green\" moms group from time to time and today we had a lunch date set up for Essence. I wasn't expecting more than the usual \"bakery\" lunch food: chicken or tuna salad on croissants, simple deli style sandwiches. But oh! was I pleasantly surprised to find that their food was seriously high quality and locally grown and raised, to boot! Their burgers are made from grass fed beef (that's what I'm trying next time), their produce comes from a local farm. I had the grilled cheese (mozzerella, tomato, basil) and it practically melted in my mouth. It took a lot of restraint to save half for my husband. I also had the soup of the day- bean soup with herbs, and it too was delicious. I shared that with my baby. The only thing I was able to consume by myself was the salad. Now, I was in such a hurry because I had to eat, chat and leave within 30 minutes of ordering because we had an appointment with our realtor. I remember thinking \"damn, this salad is delicious\" but I can't remember what it was that made it so good. But take my word for it: the mixed greens salad is good. \n\nAs I said, I met with a moms group, and we ran into a bit of a problem in that the restaurant only has one high chair. The bigger kids did fine in regular chairs, but I think they may have opted for a high chair had my daughter not been using the only one. \n\nWe arrived around 11, and were there for about 45 minutes. The place started to get packed around 11:30 and by the time I was wrapping up my meal, it was crowded and noisy, and the other moms and I were talking very loudly in order to hear one another. \n\nI was told good things about their breakfast.... that'll be my next trip!
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