That which is Caesar’s: Lutnia

That which is Caesar’s: Lutnia

Salad is one of those things I force myself to eat. I find consuming leaves to be cumbersome, yet undeniably salubrious, and so I do.

Years ago, I remember having a superb Caesar salad at Lutnia. It was made tableside (and for salad that requires raw egg, such upfront theatrics are not only entertainment but assurance that you’re getting it fresh). I have not been to Lutnia in probably a decade, but I remember liking the place a lot: the almost elegant service, funereal Liberace-type white piano, the pride put into the food, and a certain down-at-the-heels Old World charm that I found very comforting.

It’s my understanding that the great Caesar Cardini used to eat his namesake salad with his hands (leaves were to be oriented with stems outward, for easy grasping); I have never seen the salad served this way, though I like the concept. Spearing raw greenery with a fork is tedious.

Speaking of this salad, and stop me if you’ve heard this one, bandits invade Julius Caesar's birthday party seeking lettuce. Caesar shows them a truly beautiful salad, obviously expecting compliments. The bandit chief replies, "We come to seize your salad, not to praise it!" Ho!

Anyway, as we approach the ides of March, consider celebrating the day by going to a Polish restaurant to have a salad invented by an Italian chef, in Mexico, on the fourth of July.

Lutnia
5532 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
773.282.5335

I thought you did not like salad

David Hammond wrote:Speaking of this salad, and stop me if you’ve heard this one, bandits invade Julius Caesar's birthday party seeking lettuce. Caesar shows them a truly beautiful salad, obviously expecting compliments. The bandit chief replies, "We come to seize your salad, not to praise it!" Ho!

The way I've heard it, the king was surprised to hear that some peasant had grown strawberries bigger than his gardeners could do so, so went out to see what it looked like. Long story short (and I can tell this VERY long), the woman is overjoyed that the king came out to see her fabulous produce and keeps trying to get the king to compliment her skills, when he bursts out, "I have come to seize your berry, not to praise it!"

Vital Information wrote:I thought you did not like salad

And I quote me: "Salad is one of those things I force myself to eat. I find consuming leaves to be cumbersome, yet undeniably salubrious, and so I do."