Lindey's

Lindey's is Columbus' back-in-the-day, white tablecloth classic. Chances are, if your grandparents are old money and from Columbus, Lindey's is where they noshed if they wanted to see and be seen.

Lindey's was the starting point for Kent Rigsby, another paragon of fine dining in Columbus. In order to repay the favor, current Chef Jon O'Carroll cut his teeth at Rigsby's eponymous establishments. It's nice to know that the restaurant scene in Columbus is good at sharing. In the end, everybody involved wins.

For the most part, Lindey's offers a limited selection of vegetarian items on their menus. This is to be expected at an establishment of this type. Luckily, the same care is taken with meatless items at Lindey's that is taken with the rest of the menu. The staff did an excellent job alerting me to vegetarian-safe choices on the menu. Service was attentive, prompt and capable.

The bread basket was an assortment of fresh sourdough bread, a buttery dinner roll and lavash bread flecked with fennel and poppy seeds. I loved the sourdough and the lavash, although all three selections were great. The bread came with a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on how you look at it) dollop of artisanal butter.

Vegetarian starters include the house salad, a choose-your-own cheese plate and the tomato and mozzarella flatbread pizza. I ordered the flatbread pizza, and my advice to those who order this dish is that you should plan on sharing it. It is an entree-sized portion that could easily be split by two or three diners. The flatbread was beautifully textured, and the combination of carpaccioed beefsteak tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil chiffonade is absolutely sublime.

There are three vegetarian pasta dishes on the lunch, brunch and dinner menus. There are also a few egg dishes without meat on the brunch menu. The pasta dishes are pasta primavera with seasonal veggies, mushroom ravioli in cream sauce, and a butternut squash tortellini in a sage and brown butter sauce. There are also many waffle and pancake options on the carry-out menu that are prepared without meat.

I selected the portabella mushroom ravioli. The ravioli were stuffed with a portabella mixture, and topped with a rich, cremini-and-cream sauce that is both savory and delicious. The dish was perfect.

The beverage choices at Lindey's are excellent, as you would expect at a restaurant of this caliber. There is an extensive selection of liquor and wine as well as a limited number of beers.

The dining room at Lindey's is decorated with beautiful art work, and the staff keeps the place humming. The bar is also well kept, and it can seat somewhere between 30 and 40 diners.

While Lindey's isn't going to be the first option for vegetarians in Ohio's Capital City, the talented staff does an excellent job with its vegetarian fare. While you pay for quality, you still feel like it's worth every cent at Lindey's.

Lindey's