On Signature Kitchen and the Cobb Salad
Up until a few months ago, I wasn’t a huge fan of salads. I felt that if I wanted to sit down and eat a bowl of tasteless foliage I might as well start foraging in the park and save the money. All of that changed the first time I experienced the Chicken Cobb Salad from Signature Kitchen. Far from tasteless, this artfully crafted balance of supple leaves, crunchy bacon, freshly grilled chicken, and creamy avocado was clearly sent from above.
Much to my dismay (and general disgust), Signature Kitchen has since been replaced by “Flacoz Tacoz”, and yes, those are z’s. Just to further justify my disappointment, know that I’m not the only person upset about this change. One friend, who shall remain nameless, when hearing upon the death of Signature Kitchen, collapsed on the floor exclaiming, “Who the hell is Flaco, who let this happen?!” Left to live in a world without the joy of that bowl of pure deliciousness, I’ve decided to write a short piece on the Cobb Salad with the hopes that another restaurateur might raise this humble salad to Signature Kitchen Status.
The Basics
Wikipedia (the compendium of all human knowledge) defines the Cobb Salad as follows:
A main-dish garden salad made from chopped salad greens (head lettuce, watercress, chicory, and romaine), tomato, crisp bacon, boiled or roasted turkey breast, hard-boiled egg, avocado, chives, red-wine vinaigrette and Roquefort cheese.
This salad has long been a staple of the classic American lunch. It has enough protein to be filling, and a good balance of flavors and textures to keep the dish interesting. Each bite is unique, and overall the salad is incredibly satisfying.
Stepping Up Your Game
Simply by using freshly cooked meats, you bring this salad to a whole other level. The combination of warm turkey and bacon combined with the cool crisp lettuce and juicy tomatoes is just phenomenal. Sadly the time it takes to do this means that most lunch stops use precooked and even prepackaged (feel free to gasp here) meats. You currently might be thinking “Besides using the freshest ingredients, how does one improve on such a fantastic recipie?” Even if you weren’t, you are now so let’s take a look at Signature Kitchen’s description of their version:
Chicken, avocado, blue cheese, bacon, tomatoes, eggs, house dressing (balsamic acai)
You’ll notice some variation from the standard, and here is where the Signature Kitchen Cobb really excelled. I’ll break it down for you based on the added ingredients:
- Chicken - There is nothing wrong with turkey, I find it delicious. However by using heartier slices of freshly grilled chicken as opposed to deli style turkey the salad seems even more filling. The fact that they grilled the chicken (and fried the bacon) to order didn’t hurt either.
- Avocado - If you can’t appreciate avocado, I sincerely pity you. I was, not too long ago, one of you but thankfully my palate finally expanded to include it. The cool, creamy texture of the avocado pairs particularly well with warm chicken and bacon. Not to mention that its a great source of Omega-3’s and continues to increase the overall satisfaction you feel after finishing the dish.
- Balsamic Acai Dressing - It’s almost unfair to put this dressing up against a standard vinaigrette. With the perfect proportion of liquid to solid, this dressing added a really nice, light, touch of fruity flavor. In all honesty, they could have probably put this stuff on anything and it would have been amazing.
The minor modifications to a great theme, combined with amazingly fresh ingredients (prepared to order), made the Signature Kitchen Cobb Salad in all honesty, the best salad I’ve ever eaten. I already admitted that I’m only a recently converted salad fan, but lets take a look some of the other things out there. Score: 10 / 10
The Competition
Cosi - These guys do a relatively good job of supplying decent (semi) healthy food to those in a hurry. I’m a big fan of their bread, which is the best part of their sandwiches. I decided to give their Cobb Salad a try. They did substitute grilled chicken for the turkey, but it obviously wasn’t just grilled and left me a bit disappointed. The omission of any sort of egg not only left me a bit confused as to what I was eating, but also left me hungry just a few hours later. Otherwise they followed the standard Cobb recipe and did a halfway decent job. Score 6 / 10
Au Bon Pain (The above photo) - This is usually my afternoon cookie spot, but while going out to grab a late lunch today I figured I’d give their Cobb a try. They haven’t quite reached Signature Kitchen status, but its the closest I’ve had in recent memory. We were off to a rocky start as I watched them spoon heaps of sliced turkey and bacon from plastic bins into my bowl, but their additions made up for the lack of freshness. They did add the obligatory eggs, but continued to add croûtons and carrots. While this was a poor substitute for avocado, both health and filling wise, it did go a long way towards making me feel satisfied at the end of my meal. Score 7.5 / 10
Closing Thoughts
I’m eternally grateful to Signature Kitchen for showing me that eating a salad isn’t always like chewing on compost. The loss of such a great eating establishment is something I’m sure will be felt for quite some time, at least among those were lucky enough to experience. I will continue to hope that somehow Signature Kitchen returns to us. And if not, that they’re Chicken Cobb Salad might live on in some other eatery, preferably close to my apartment, so humanity can continue to enjoy it.
If you know of any other great Cobb Salad, or any great salad spot, please feel free to let me know.
