Healthy vegetarian delights abound at Intermezzo Café
One of the blessings (and curses, depending on how you look at it) of working on campus is there is no shortage of delicious noms to choose from on the lunch hour. Working smack dab in the middle of Green Street, I don't have to venture far at all to indulge in Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Sushi... But most days I am good, and I pack my lunch, especially in this cold weather when even a five minute jaunt for lunch feels treacherous. But there is a place on campus that is worth a jaunt in this cold weather. So the other day I donned leggings under my pants and extra socks and hiked over to the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts to enjoy lunch at the Intermezzo Café.
The Intermezzo Café is a spacious, elegant place to grab a bite to eat on campus. The first thing I noticed this week as I looked for a table were many patrons carrying trays with overflowing platefuls of nachos, stacked high with cheese and jalapenos. You may remember my struggle to eat healthy, so I decided not to go there with the nachos. But I did appreciate that they offered beef nachos for the carnivores and vegetarian nachos smothered in vegetarian chili for us herbivores.
As usual, I had a hard time deciding what to have for lunch. After all, the vegetarian options include Rainbow Veggie Sandwich, Black Bean Burger, Garden Veggie Burger, Portabella Sandwich, and Veggie Sandwich. Plus, they have daily lunch specials that offer more options. In addition to the nachos, they offered a Toasted Veggie Pizza Sub Sandwich.
I became overwhelmed by the options, and went with the tried and true Black Bean Burger. The burger was hearty, served on a warm Kaiser roll, and topped with a generous serving of onions, tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce. For my side, I chose low-fat cottage cheese, which has become one of my favorite lean proteins. Healthy sides abound at Intermezzo — they offer low-fat potato salad, fruit salad and three bean salad, and pasta salad and chips are also available if you're feeling a little more decadent.
Speaking of decadent, I passed up three different cakes and three different kinds of cookies they were offering, but next time I am there I will pick up a large rice krispie treat covered in chocolate!
The presentation of condiments is quite impressive. I added A1 steak sauce to my burger and jalapenos to give my black bean burger some edge. The burger was exceptional, and my friend enjoyed his Toasted Veggie Pizza Sub Sandwich, a combination of soy patties, marinara sauce, and cheese, that he described as messy but delicious.
Intermezzo offers many options for the meat eater as well as the vegetarian. They offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and their prices are very reasonable. For the coffee lovers, they offer many varieties of java. The quiet, airy atmosphere offers a delightful reprieve for those of us who are used to the hustle and bustle of lunch on Green Street. I have always had fast service, and I have never had to worry about being able to find a table. I'm looking forward to returning soon to try their dinner options.
Breakfast: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Lunch: Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Dinner: Served 90 minutes before until 30 minutes after evening performances
3 comments
That Black Bean Burger looks really good…
Ms Bowen wrote: “You may remember my struggle to eat healthy,...” Hopefully, Ms Bowen is trying to eat “healthfully” (in a manner conducive to good health), rather than healthy (in good health). In order to eat healthy (while in good health), on must first learn to eat healthfully (conducive to good health).
Humankind faces two crises: global warming and global bloat, the latter also known as the “obesity crisis.” At least in the English speaking world, the fight against obesity will not succeed if health educators and journalists fail to discern between “healthy” (meaning “in good health”) and “healthful” (meaning “conducive to good health”)
You may remember the 2004 U.S. movie “Supersize Me,” a documentary in which the filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock, eats only at McDonalds restaurants for a month. If you are unfamiliar with this film, the web link <a>www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/</a> provides a synopsis. Several times in the film, Mr. Spurlock holds up a Big Mac or other McDonalds’ product just before consuming it.
The knowledgeable among us, who differentiate between “healthy” and “healthful,” understand that Mr. Spurlock displays the products before imbibing them to emphasize that they are “healthy” looking ( i.e., in good health), although “unhealthful” (not conducive to good health) to eat. No one would eat an unhealthy Big Mac (e.g., one that was undercooked or moldy) or eat unhealthy looking McDonald’s fries ( e.g. ones that were soggy rather than crisp).
However, this film’s less enlightened viewers (i.e., those unaware of the distinction between “healthy” and “healthful”) would instead observe Mr. Spurlock’s display of “healthy” looking McDonald’s products which are “unhealthy” (rather than “unhealthful”) to eat. For these unfortunates and for an equally unfortunate segment of the general population, McDonalds’ products will remain, at least in some sense, both “healthy” and “unhealthy.” Such cognitive confusion makes this population segment much more likely to succumb to McDonalds and other similarly odious vendors’ products. This population segment will continue to grow in both number and girth (and health in English-speaking countries will continue to deteriorate) if journalists and educators, the stalwarts of public enlightenment, fail as stalwarts of the distinction between “healthy” and “healthful.”
Admittedly, “healthy” and “healthier” require fewer printed letters than “healthful” and “more healthful,” but this extra typographical effort is critical to the health of the world’s English-speaking population
I wonder if the healthy/healthful guy has ever read a dictionary or considered that usage might be more important than some prescriptive rule.
The knowledgeable among us understand that one accepted meaning of “healthy” (as supported by numerous dictionaries including some silly thing called the OED) is “conducive to or promoting health”.
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The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
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What? Echo! (Echo!) Where’s the dischord and dissent?
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And without bloodshed. Sounds like the Savoy trustees aren’t as narrow-minded as some of their whiny pants constituents. Do you think quack Snell is already planning an asinine counterattack or is he still laying low after those “threats” against his person?
hey, if hair ain’t gon’ be over your head, my jokes may as well be.
Okay, almost 24 hours later and I finally got Issac’s Summer joke. I’m an idiot.
Excellent. I am glad sometimes American dreams are encouraged, rather than stifled.
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funny, as your summer begins, another Summer ends.
@Dan - Wow. Unfortunately, I have to refrain from further comment due to a previous employment relationship. But with that brief context you might be able to imagine possible comments or responses I could have.
Oh, by the way, the “Champaign County YMCA” no longer exists. The official name is now the “Stephens Family YMCA” (the website has not been updated, but check out the latest program guide). And no, it’s not just the name of the building. It’s the name of the organization.
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