Cameron's American Bistro

While there may not be a cornucopia of choices for vegetarian diners at Cameron's, the classic American establishment, which is the flagship of the Mitchell restaurant empire, carefully selects and prepares dishes that are so yummy, you'll probably forget that you were limited in your menu options.

Cameron's menu changes seasonally. They always seem to offer a vegetarian entree alongside one or two vegetarian appetizers. The latest menu had dead animals in all of the salads, which was a mild disappointment, but they made up for it with great first course options like the goat cheese beignets (pictured above), served in a tomato coulis and basil oil with ricotta cheese. They were savory, tart and delicious.

My main course was the bistro vegetable plate, which came with a breaded eggplant Napoleon in goat cheese, roasted red peppers, oven dried tomatoes, broccoli raab and artichoke hearts in a cilantro pesto sauce. The presentation was artfully executed, and the course was very good.

The bread comes with a whole roasted garlic clove to spread with the butter. I love love love roasted garlic with fresh bread, and the Cameron's rendition is no exception.

The wine list is solid if unspectacular, consisting mostly of basic varietal wines from the Left Coast. It seemed to me as if they could have fleshed out the beverage options in a better fashion in order to keep up with the dynamic kitchen fare. Nonetheless, I had to deal with an A to Z Pinot Gris, the Chalone Pinot Noir and a 20-year Fonseca Tawny Port. There is also a reserve list with more trophies from the Pacific coast.

The service was attentive, sharp and efficient. While they worked well during my early dinner hour, they may have been stretched thin when the place filled up closer to 7 p.m. It would have been difficult to maintain this level of service if the server was helping twice as many people.

There weren't tons of options for vegetarians, but the limited selection I tried was still very good. Mitchell's kitchens are always very talented, so I'm sure they could work around any dietary restrictions that aren't covered by the pre-existing menu items if they were given advance warning.

Check out the pictures below.

Cameron's