Review: Carmelita

Carmelita—a destination for refined vegetarian cuisine served in an equally refined setting

Since opening in 1996, Carmelita has been a destination for refined vegetarian cuisine served in an equally refined setting: think soft linens, warm candlelight and artfully composed dishes often adorned with edible flowers or just-plucked herbs. Owners Kathryn Neumann and Michael Hughes closed the restaurant for 10 days in July to add a bar and reconfigure the menu to include more small plates. But a recent visit revealed that, despite the changes, the primary challenge that Carmelita has faced for all these years—making its high-style meat-free cuisine taste like an effortless celebration of texture and taste, without a hint of what may be missing (perhaps to eager meat eaters)—still remains. Take a summer pasta dish: Since almost every restaurant in town does a meat-free pasta dish for its vegetarian diners, it should follow that Carmelita’s versions would put them all to shame. But no: Overcooked homemade linguine ($17) was barely dressed, served over vinegar-tart mushrooms and bombarded with handfuls of whole hazelnuts—a total miss. A starter of local morels with fava bean purée ($13) and a warm, runny poached egg was wonderful, until a hint of the lemon vinaigrette erased the delicate flavors on the plate. I enjoyed the quinoa croquettes ($11), a crunchy, savory starter matched with spicy ancho chiles and smooth, buttery avocado mousse. And a crêpe ($17), stuffed with a savory mix of spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and mascarpone, was enjoyable, but the accompanying zucchini ribbons in a balsamic reduction was the real revelation: a clever, simple and effortless celebration of a humble vegetable. Dinner Tue.–Sun. Greenwood, 7314 Greenwood Ave. N; 206.706.7703; carmelita.net. $$ A.A.S.