If you're looking for cloth napkins, fancy schmancy dinnerware, and waiters who take your coat at…read morethe entrance, 11a is not for you. If you're looking for killer innovative dishes with organic local ingredients served in a greenhouse backdrop by servers who can just as easily be standing next to you in a mosh pit at a rock concert, this is the place to go!
Having tired of the standard German breakfast, my husband and I who just moved here from the US in 2010 were looking for a different menu, preferably something fresh that didn't involve huge amounts of nitrates or sausage. That's when the smoked salmon stack at 11a became a real game-changer. Staying true to the greenhouse motif, there seems to always be a little green on every dish. A salmon Benedict without the hollandaise, the salmon stack has thin slices of crustless white toast corners with slices of their own cured salmon, deliciously dressed salad greens, and a poached egg. They even have a naughty English breakfast with fried eggs, bacon, cheese baked tomato, plenty of arugula, fried toast and beans. Breakfasts came with a glass of prosecco or juice. Their standard menu of house favorites is supplemented with a daily menu that changes to the local ingredients in season. We never know what to expect on the daily menu, but part of the fun is arriving one day to find they have an organic pasta bolognese made from locally hunted venison only to return another day and find they've already replaced that dish with an amazing organic lamb roast with roasted organic farmer's market veggies. The dishes are imagination with an easy hand and the prices are well within reason.
While this may not be the place to take Grandma--unless your Grandma is cool like mine is!--the food at 11a strives to give your palate and the planet the respect it deserves. Once you get over your need for white glove treatment while you're in Linden, because hello you're in LINDEN, you can focus on what really counts: the fantastic fare before you.
