We left Amherst around 5:45 p.m., after the a cappella concert had ended, and were simply shocked by the multitude of cars that led to bumper-to-bumper traffic and prevented us from getting to the restaurant on time. We called Green Street Cafe and informed them of the delay; the owner assured us that the table would be held and not to worry. He told me that the traffic was normal. Due to constant bridge construction, it often takes well over an hour to venture from Amherst to Northampton on Saturday nights. I remember convincing my impatient parents that the wait wouldn't be bad; it truly was family bonding time. Due to its accomodating staff, we already had a positive impression of Green Street Cafe.
My parents and I arrived first to find ourselves in a front room featuring a long, beautiful table set up with vases of fresh roses as centerpieces and a pretty mural of a garden and statue on the wall. I immediately noticed that the restaurant has a very hip and elegant feel to it. We sat in this first room to wait for the rest of our party. The restaurant, as far as I could tell, wound back to more tables down a small set of stairs behind us.
Shortly afterwards, Liz Avis '07, sweating from her basketball workout, arrived and had the truly ingenious idea of having the parents sit at one end of the table while "the kids" sat on the other. This was key as later we'd watch, amused, as our parents socialized with each other. We did not have awkward small-talk and were able to see our own parents mingle with those of the people who had so quickly come to mean so much to us. The dynamics and the mood were set: now we wanted some food!
The waiter gave us our menus and the deliberation began. The dinner selection was quite small: there were probably six appetizers and six or seven main course options; yet every entree sounded scrumptious. I do have to say that this was nothing like dining at Antonio's-each meal was close to 20 or 25 dollars and the appetizers ranged in price from six to 15 dollars. According to the parents, the wine was delicious but, again, not cheap.
Green Street Cafe serves a blend of Malaysian, Chinese and Indian cusine-a type of fusion not commonly seen. The items on the menu were exotic, ranging from sashimi to duck to Indonesian chicken. Everything sounded so good that we all had extremely hard times choosing what we wanted for dinner. When the waiter came around, Charlie and I had decided on the salmon entree while one of my friends ordered the filet mignon, another a vegetable stew and two of the fathers chose the lamb.
As for appetizers, "the kids" split two cheese boards while the parents had a variety, the most popular being the crab cakes. Although I don't eat cheese, the cheese boards deserve a mention; Charlie, Liz and Eric Glustrom '07 all enjoyed them. Each cheese board resembled a paddle and contained masses of different cheeses and dried fruits. I watched in utter disgust as Charlie, embracing his French side, proved to Liz he could tear into the moldy blue Roquefort. He grimaced and displayed mortal pain. I tried a bite of the crab cakes and they were extraordinary. Bread baskets were provided and continually refilled as we inhaled pieces of baguette.
Green Street Cafe was extraordinary in that I felt noticed and attended to; I really felt I was being served. My water glass was never empty, and the waitstaff genuinely seemed to care and take note of every detail of our dining experience. Once in a while, everybody wants to sit back, relax and eat and eat and eat, without feeling the need to ask for anything. Green Street Cafe successfully indulged that desire.
After the appetizers came the dinner salads. Dressed with a homemade vinaigrette, the salads were fairly basic and came in an ideal portion size.
Now, my one note of caution about the restaurant-along with the relaxed atmosphere comes a lack of urgency in the timing of the meal. We had probably spent an hour, if not more, sitting and enjoying the ambience and company before the salads came. I enjoyed the relaxed pace, but there was part of me that wanted everything quickly and was used to sitting, eating and leaving. There was definitely a large part of Charlie that wanted things to go faster; he later shot out of the restaurant at the meal's eventual conclusion.
The salad plates were cleared, and then, after a good fifteen minutes, our entrees were delivered to us. The salmon was delicious: flaky and fresh, with a flavored sauce on the side, adding another element to the dish. There were fresh vegetables on the side-broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots and cous-cous, all grown by the restaurant. I stole all of Charlie's little brother's vegatables.
After I had eaten everything on my plate (and some of my neighbor's plate), my stomach was literally hitting the table, I had a smile on my face and from looking around the table I could judge that everyone was more or less in the same boat. Eric and Charlie discussed the meal for weeks, claiming that they had never eaten so much before.
The evening had been long-it was now two and a half hours after our arrival time-but the gourmet food, the service and the pleasant atmosphere provided just the thing we had been looking for.
Although it was pricey (fortunately, we didn't care, as the parents were paying), I would still have voted for the restaurant if the dough were coming out of my own pocket. The Green Street Cafe has excellent food, and as long as you're not in a rush, I would definitely recommend giving it a try.