Strange Town Is So Fresh and Funky, You Have To Eat It To Believe It

When you walk through the always-open glass door of Strange Town, your first look is a beautiful mirror-paneled bar, bathed in mysterious red light. It’s decorations are simple,  highlighting functionality and natural beauty with intricate glassware and vibrant green potted plants lining the top shelf. Huge windows line the street-side walls, offering a view of the bustling Prospect Ave. 

The vintage-esque wood tables are mostly relegated to the windows, and the chairs and benches, when coupled with the low lighting and the assortment of funky vinyl music playing louder than you would think is appropriate, creates a comfortable energy that is welcoming and eclectic. 

Someone behind the bar greeted us when we walked in, and took my partner, Cass, and I over to a table just to the right of the bar in a more quiet part of the restaurant. When I say it was more quiet, I mean it was farther from the group in the front window who were clearly having the time of their life. A bubbly waitress came by pretty much right away to get our drink order. Strange Town is known for a diverse collection of natural wines, which they favor because they are made in small batches and boast a ‘celebration of grapes’ and low environmental impact. However, I am going dry for a while, so I stuck to water. Had I realized they had a few interesting NA cocktails, I probably would have indulged, but I digress. 

After some debate over the sweetness levels of the featured cocktails, Cass ordered a tea-infused bourbon cocktail called “Death Becomes Her” ($12) which I can only assume gets its name from the 1992 dark comedic fantasy film starring Meryl Streep and other famed actors that I don’t care about as much. Our server took the liberty of adding extra agave to heighten the sweetness, which turned out to be exactly to Cass’ taste. 

The menu was light, literally, with just one page of eats and two pages of drinks. That single page was small but mighty, and most importantly was star-studded with seasonal vegetables and ingredients sourced from local farms like Quinta MKE, Produce With a Purpose and Mushroom Mike, according to the website. The most interesting to me, though, is how the farm-to-table menu rotates with the season’s bounty. Even the Pickles ($6), which is a real dish, is described as “a mix of whatever we grab from the market that week.”

Right away, we ordered the Fancy Nachos ($16) and the Rainbow Rice Balls ($14) to share. These dishes were featured prominently on their Instagram page, so I felt it was only right to give them a try. 

The Fancy Nachos are aptly named, as they are decorated with dainty, purple edible flowers. When Cass was finished taking aesthetic photos of our plate, I tried a flower. They had literally no flavor at all, but the sensation alone of eating raw plant and the instagram-ability was worth it. 

The nachos themselves were exactly what you want nachos to be – they were cheezy and bright, thanks to the pickled jalapenos. Back in the day, before I was vegan, I remember nacho cheese being unpleasantly thick and gloopy, and sitting really heavy in my stomach. And what was up with those yellow corn, salt-flavored tortilla chips? 

The chips in these nachos were large and not too salty – and the plant based cheese on top was creamy, light and balanced in flavor. Vegan cheese in any form is  hit-or-miss, but the house made cheese sauce was a brilliant success. The ultimate test of a good plate of nachos is the chips-to-toppings ratio, and Strange Town clearly did the math. 

The rice balls came out halfway through our nachos, but they didn’t steal the show away. The plating was elegant, but the texture was a bit too strange for Cass. I, on the other hand, found the chewy, sticky rice balls to be comforting. It seemed to me that the rice was steamed, then formed into balls and seared on one side to stand on their own without rolling and also give some variance in texture, which I welcomed. Though each of the three rice balls was flavored separately, the difference was subtle. Hidden in the center of each was a cube of sweet potato, adding a sharp sweetness that rounded it out. The short-grain rice was seasoned with rice vinegar, making the dish reminiscent of deconstructed sushi (if sushi was so comforting). 

The flavors were non-offensive, and could easily be served with a paired natural wine if I were drinking. We also tried a hummus plate with pickled veggies ($12). The plate was drizzled with chili oil, but I was a bit disappointed to discover that the chili oil wasn’t spicy, which is just fine. The real star of the plate was the Attari pita served on the side – it truly was the most pillowy, warm hug of a bread that I have ever had. It tasted fresh, there were different textures from (I think) being pan-cooked, and perfect for scooping up hummus and pickled onions into the pocket. 

For dessert, we took a decadent slice of strawberry rhubarb cheesecake with homemade strawberry jam on top to-go. It was velvety and smooth, and the jam was perfectly tart and not too runny. I wasn’t sure what to expect because I’ve never had vegan cheesecake, but it held its shape and had a nice wobble to it, which The Great British Bake Off says is necessary. 

I’m not very picky about customer service – I think it is enough if your food gets to your table, your water is full more often than not, and your server knows something about the menu. It’s not like I want my server to bully me, but  we Americans expect too much emotional labor from our servers (and customer service workers in general). In France, servers hardly talk to you but take your order. I think we should be more like the French in that respect, because I don’t need my waiter to compliment me and laugh at all my jokes. I have a girlfriend for that. 

I appreciated that I could talk about my food with our server, and that she didn’t rush us even though we were there a few minutes after close (we were not the only ones, likely because they are only open from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.). The menu had a caveat that I have seen at a few dine-in places recently. It mentioned that a 20% service charge is added to every bill. I asked, and that money goes to servers as an automatic tip. I know this is controversial, but I think that servers, cooks and bartenders go through a lot at work and they deserve the tip. 

Strange Town is the place to go if you’re into all things fresh and funky, from food to music to wine. The aura is reliably witchy, and the food is the most unique you’ll have had in a while. When you go, try a natural wine on my behalf.