"Caesar"

Eastside Road, February 25, 2014—

FREQUENT VISITORS to this blog, if any there be, will suspect that I prefer my Caesar salads authentic. You may even know where I prefer to order one: Zuni Café, in San Francisco.

Occasionally, though, one finds one's self elsewhere; one scans the menu; what one really wants — especially at noon — is a composed salad. Today I prefer to forget the menu listing (though I find it charming enough to reproduce at the foot of this post). Sure, they call it "Caesar" in its heading. We all know that no Caesar Salad contains avocado, tortilla strips, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, chicken no matter what herd it hails from.

But it is a composed salad, and a tasty one, once you fork up the dressing from the bottom of the bowl. Lunch out in town with a young friend and a new salad: nice.

"Rosato" (Zinfandel, Syrah, Sangiovese, traces of three other varietals), Acorn Winery (Healdsburg), 2012

• Agave Mexican Restaurant, 1063 Vine Street, Healdsburg, California; (707) 433-2411