Cracked Pepper Bistro (Fresno)-Now Serving Lunch

[glazebrookgirl]

Hello Fresno Hounds!

A quick note and mini-review regarding Cracked Pepper Bistro, which is now open for lunch Tuesday-Saturday from 11am-2pm. It is a more casual menu with panini, a burger, salads, soup, and lunch specials. Everything is $10 or under! Hubby and I stopped by for an early lunch. We were the first ones in the place, but by the time we had left there were three other tables, so it looks as though word is out. There were several different types of panini including a chicken, turkey, prosciutto, ham, and one featuring the famed eggplant appetizer. There was also a burger, pastrami sandwich, green salad, and smoked salmon salad. The lunch specials were two different kinds of pizzas, one a ratatouille based pizza and the other a pesto and prosciutto.

We started with two iced teas, an apricot and green tea concoction. It was refreshing and fruity and a great start to the meal. Hubby ordered the pastrami panini and I ordered the lunch special featuring a ratatouille pizza. Hubby thought the pastrami itself was moist and delicious with no discernable fat/gristle and it had just the right amount of meat on the sandwich. It was finished with jalapeno mustard which had a nice kick, as well as sauerkraut and swiss cheese. Hubby's only real complaint about the sandwich was that the bread had too hard of a crust from being over-toasted. It seemed as though the sandwich had been grilled and put in the oven and the outside of the bread was rock hard. Maybe just a slight adjustment here would help. The panini came with your choice of green bean salad or Armenian potato salad. Hubby chose the potato salad and while it wasn't bad, it lacked true flavor. Maybe try the green bean salad next time.

I ordered the ratatouille pizza and I enjoyed it very much. It was a flatbread style pizza with the ratatouille piled on top of olive oil and aged balsamic. It was finished with goat cheese and micro-greens. The ratatouille had been cooked in wine it seemed and it had a great roasted, wine-y flavor that melded very well with the goat cheese. I would definitely order one of the pizzas again. The only problem was that the chef had burned the first one, so we had to wait a bit for them to make another. I wonder if maybe that's why hubby's bread got over-toasted because they were holding it in the oven while they re-fired my pizza.

Anyway, it was a very nice lunch for a reasonable price, $24 before tip for two entrees and two iced teas. We even got a little petit four of choclate, coconut, and graham cracker, which was delicious and a nice way to end the meal. Hubby and I will be back!

[mrsmegawatt]

Well I have to chime in since this is my favorite place in Fresno. My son, about to turn 21 stopped in there with a buddy for lunch the other day. He had a burger! "The best burger I ever ate" to quote him. And as he proclaims himself "a connoisseur of burgers"....well I had to believe him. Unfortunately, I work on the other end of town and can never get over there and back in a lunch hour. I'm envious!

We did have dinner there recently, entire family of 4 and the kids are quite taken with the place. There was one unfortunate event we witnessed though. A couple arrived and their table wasn't ready. What a scene they made...first the wife unloading on the chef's wife..I believe she was. They left and then the husband returned to unload on Chef. It was quite gross. All that aside, it was a lovely dinner.

[Gail]

Hubby's birthday is next week. Maybe we should give it a try. It's just so far from our house. Sorry you had to experience the bad manners and rudeness. Sounds like a too-long cocktail hour before dinner....

[Lunch Critics]

Having read on this board that the Cracked Pepper Bistro was now open for lunch, we thought it was a perfect time to make our first visit to this restaurant.

We arrived a few minutes before noon, only to find the place completely empty of patrons. While we were there, two other tables filled up. However, there were so many tables available that we wondered if lunch reservations were necessary. We also saw two people pick up orders to bring back to their work place, which probably also dampened the number of people actually dining in the restaurant. Needless to say, the service was fine. But, with only three tables of customers, it wasn't hard to get good service.

Being that it was our first visit, we also took note of the décor. The dark earth tones perfectly matched the cozy atmosphere. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into the restaurant’s décor. And, just to add our two cents regarding the background music…it was a little loud, but not so loud that we had to raise our voices to speak.

We ordered the prosciutto with fresh basil and mozzarella panini, the turkey breast with pesto aioli panini, and the eggplant parmesan (a special that day). We need to disclose that we love prosciutto (few things spice up a dish better than prosciutto). However, we’ve never found a prosciutto sandwich we’ve liked. Why? Due to the fact that the meat is so soft, it’s tough to tear unless it’s cut into very small pieces beforehand. However, most places put prosciutto strips into their prosciutto sandwiches. As a consequence, all the prosciutto comes out of the sandwich on the first bite, and then one is left with just bread and whatever other condiments/vegetables were placed in the sandwich. And, that’s exactly what happened with this panini. It still tasted good; but, we were left with a mozzarella and fresh basil panini after the first bite.

The turkey panini was better than the prosciutto panini. The turkey was tender and perfectly balanced by the aioli. It was very good, but not a “WOW!!” dish. The “WOW!!” was saved for the eggplant parmesan. Now, all of us are not big fans of eggplant: the result of having slogged through too many dishes where the eggplant was overcooked, resulting in a sloppy mess. So, it was with a bit of trepidation that we ordered this dish. But, this eggplant parmesan was simply the best we’ve ever eaten. The eggplant was perfectly breaded, smothered in a couple of layers of cheese, and encased in a robust tomato sauce. To be honest, we couldn’t tell we were eating eggplant (one of us thought we were eating chicken parmesan). The eggplant parmesan was enough reason for us to come back again. Another reason to come back was the delicious graham cracker/coconut/chocolate desert that was on our plate. However, the morsel of that desert just left us wishing that desert options were offered at lunch.

While we were there, Chef Vatche came out from the back and began chatting up some of the other customers. He confirmed that he had just secured a lease on the space next door, and would soon begin expanding the restaurant. The current restaurant would become a banquet area, while the new space would enclose the day-to-day dining. Good news, indeed.

Overall, we were impressed with the Cracked Pepper Bistro. While we would avoid the prosciutto panini in the future, the eggplant parmesan showed more than enough talent to make us want to visit again.

[cocktailqueen77]

Had lunch at CPB with s-n-law and my (very well-behaved) niece the other day. I have been quite a few times for dinner, but this my s-n-law's first time and I was happy to introduce her to the place.

We had 12pm reservations and when we arrived there were already three tables occupied, as the day progressed the entire restaurant filled up!! Way to go CPB!! I was glad that I made the reservation in advance. I called the previous night and mentioned that there was going to be a wee one in addtion to the two adults. The gal that made my reservation was completely pleasant and accommodating, and we felt that same vibe from the moment we walked through the door. No eye-rolling upon seeing the (portable) car seat in tow, and we were given a table with more than enough room for all of us.

The menu is exactly as described as GBG, and the special pizzas were the same as well. I was tempted to try the ratatouille pizza, but I had indulged the previous night. I opted for the "Vatchetarian" sandwich, which is a spin-off from CPB's eggplant/red bell pepper/pumpkin seed/goat cheese dinner appetizer. S-n-law had the ham and brie panini and the iced apricot and green tea - which she loved and said was very refreshing, and we both shared a bowl of soup. There were two soups available, one was red bell pepper puree, the one we shared was a delicious seafood stew. It arrived chock full of fish and shrimp in a hearty and perfectly seasoned tomato base, a couple crostinis accompanied the soup and helped in mopping up all that delicious flavors!!

The paninis arrived in due time, mine with Armenian potato salad, s-n-law's with the green bean salad. I have to agree with GBG and her husband's pronouncement about the sides: neither was bad in any way, just did not have adequate seasoning and flavor. Both were perfectly cooked, not too soft/mushy or undercooked which can often happen, so that was a plus. Perhaps they are meant to be simple in preperation, not sure. Additionally, the bread for both of our paninis were very toasty, and left the roof of our mouths quite beat up. I think the problem is due to the type of bread used for the sandwiches, even slightly toasting it makes it extremely crunchy and hard. A softer bread would really help.

S-n-law loved all the flavors of her ham sandwich, lots of meat and a good slice of brie with a subtle hint of dijon to give it a little kick. I enjoyed my vegetarian, but felt that it was lacking something. The bread consumed the grilled vegetables, and the goat cheese was spread very thin (maybe this is a personal thing since I positively love goat cheese and will drown food in it at times!!). I didn't taste the pumpkin seeds, and I think - again - that it was due to the bread issue.

Even though our meal came with an absolutely delicious morsel of chocolate/coconut/graham cracker (as mentioned in GBG's post) we asked if there were additional desserts available - since it was my birthday lunch. The server politely explained that there was no desserts available at lunch yet, but they were working on getting a menu together soon. No problem, due to our expanding waistlines we took it as a sign that sweets were not in our future!!

Overall, it was a very good lunch. Next time I might try something other than a panini, though, since the bread was almost a deal breaker for me. Service is always spectacular, and never overbearing or slow. Plus it is wonderful to see so many people supporting this wonderful restaurant!!

[glazebrookgirl]

Thanks cq77 for the report...I wonder if it would be possible to request softer bread? They are so accomodating, I think they might do it. Is there a way to be nice about it?

I'm glad everything worked out with the baby and that the flavors were spot on. Thanks for the tip about needing a reservation, hubby and I will remember for next time.

P.S. Did you notice the music? Was it annoying?

[cocktailqueen77]

Hi gbg...I didn't notice the music at all. It was very low and almost nonexistant. The sound level throughout our whole lunch was perfectly fine. As mentioned before, every table was occupied and in some restaurants that means that conversations become difficult - not in this case.

I do hope that there may be another option for the bread, maybe even requesting that it is not toasted?? Hmmm....

[cocktailqueen77]

Hi there gbg,

I have been to CPB many times during for dinner, but was wondering about the atmosphere for lunch. My sister-n-law, who just had baby (I'm an aunt!! Yippee!!), is taking me out to lunch for my birthday and I would love to go to CPB...my little neice accompanies us out all the time, but I don't want to be "out of place".

Does it seem okay to bring in a baby, under six months old, who mainly sleeps?? I know most restaurants - that do a more fine dining at night - are more casual for lunch, but...you know some frown on children/babies...

Thx...ctq

[tavmark]

Not gbg,

But I have been there for lunch and I don't think bringing a baby would be an issue at all. (This being a public forum I hesitate to put personal info about others out there, but let's just say I think the owners could definitely relate. :))

[glazebrookgirl]

tavmark, interested to hear what you had for lunch and what your experience was like...

[tavmark]

Sorry about being so late to reply on this. I also had the eggplant lunch sandwich that cocktail queen ordered. I thought mine was very good but for whatever reason it just didn't measure up to the dinner appetizer (maybe that's because I was so pleasantly surprised by the appetizer when I had it at dinner that time).

[glazebrookgirl]

I absolutely agree with tavmark, it would not be an issue at all. It is very casual at lunch. The only real problem is space for a stroller if you should need one, but I'm sure they could work something out especially if you called them in advance. And congrats on being an aunt!

[cocktailqueen77]

Thanks tavmark and gbg!!

The stroller won't be an issue. My s-n-law doesn't use one when going out to restaurants (she is a former server and understands the space issue, plus the process of unfolding those complicated things...well, she prefers to just carry in the portable car seat - or whatever they are called!!)

I'll make reservations for 2 and a half :) Can't wait, and I will let you all know how it goes...

[hipchick]

We had lunch there the other day. I really love that restaurant, but I would suggest that they do something about the music they play. I know it's a small thing, but I always find that good music enhances my experience at a restaurant.

As far as the lunch food goes, it was okay. I have always enjoyed eating dinner there, although even then he needs to pay attention more to the music. I think that restaurant could be very romantic with a few small changed.

[arev]

They typically play jazz at night isn’t that hip any more ?

[glazebrookgirl]

Would you mind telling us what you ate? I am interested in the other menu options I didn't try.

I didn't even notice the music, was it too loud?