St. Martin's Table: Lunch for a Purpose

I've spent each day this week in an MHA seminar at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. While the week has been punctuated by moments of clarity, my brain has mostly been swirling in a pea soup of business jargon and Power Pointing. Create a culture of continuous innovation. Integrate into a Health System. Know your "hedgehog" concept. After 4 days of seminar and 3 days of eat-on-the go lunches of Chipotle and Noodles, a colleague referred me across the street to St. Martin's table.


St. Martin's is a welcome, if abrupt, change from business jargon and type-A personalities. It has survived the decades for a reason - they know why they're there and what they do it very, very well. They don't serve the hottest Asian -fusion fare. They don't swarm with busy wait-staff. They do donate all tips and a portion of proceeds to a different hunger-related non-profit each month. St Martin's is simply a different kind of restaurant - it's food with a purpose; lunch for a reason.

The decor is simple: patrons descend into a basement and find a seat amid a hodge-podge of wooden tables and chairs. While novice patrons like me may receive a laminated, one-page menu, the 5 menu items are written on a large chalkboard and most patrons seemed to know which combo of the 5 sandwich, salad, and soup offerings struck their fancy.

Menu items are simple but wholesome, featuring fresh salads, sandwich spreads, and savory soups. My waitress had a calm, inviting, easy-going manner, encouraging me to relax, do some reading, and have some more hot water for tea. My lunch, a small Greek Salad, was simple and satisfying with generous portions of creamy, tangy feta, a lemony herbed dessing, a smattering of briny kalamatas, and perfectly ripe bits of tomato. (Note that finding a ripe tomato in Minnesota in January is a feat on par with programming a VCR from 1988, but St. Martin's still delivered.)

While my salad was exactly what I had hoped for, the real treat was the thick slice of home made, whole wheat bread tucked to the side of the plate. Crunch and crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, slightly sweet and topped with a warm smear of butter... simply delightful.

So next time you're in Cedar-Riverside looking for a quiet place to find peace and do something good for the world, stop by St. Martin's table. And take your time - places this good shouldn't be rushed.