Brunch time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Cost: $6-$10 per person (average)
The scene: Vella, it appears your train has arrived. And it will come again in approximately 6 minutes. And again, about 7 minutes after that.
Despite setting up shop in a curious location — a smallish, free-standing building directly under the Western Blue Line “L” stop — this breakfast, lunch and weekend blunch (Vella’s word, not ours) spot has attracted a steady stream of, uh, blunchers, since opening last month.
Though new to Logan Square, Vella had a bit of a headstart with publicity: Owners Sara Voden and Melissa Yen started serving made-to-order panini under the Vella Cafe name at the Green City Market in 2005. Those tasty panini populate the weekend menu at the new Logan Square operation, along with crepes and a few a.m. standbys like pancakes and parfaits.
The food: We loved the breakfast-meets-lunch sausage frittata panino ($6.75), an egg-and-sausage omelet pressed between slices of grilled bread with butterkase (a soft, mild cow’s milk cheese), caramelized onions and spicy adjvar mayo (adjvar’s a puree of roasted red peppers, eggplant, garlic and chilis).
The giant, eggy crepes are plump with fillings, from classic banana and Nutella ($5.50) to the daily scramble, an egg-and-veggie filled crepe topped with creamy spinach-fennel sauce flecked with fresh red bell pepper ($7.25). (On a recent weekend, our scramble contained fluffy eggs, roasted corn and zucchini.)
Several other menu items sound awfully good, but we haven’t had a chance to taste them yet — and not for lack of trying. Vella tends to sell out of popular items, like the French toast stuffed with seasonal fruit and orange-honey cream cheese ($6.75), by mid-morning. But don’t give up too easily — you can always catch a train in next weekend.
Kiddie factor: Kid-friendly, but we only saw one well-behaved toddler and a sleepy infant on a recent weekend morning.
The wait: With lots of opening buzz, the tiny 20-table spot has been drawing a crowd; but an order-at-the-counter setup keeps traffic flowing — and waits down.
– – –
Vella Cafe
1912 N. Western Ave.773-489-7777
Rating: 2 1/2 eggs (out of 4 eggs)
Loved it: Housemade baked goods like apricot-pine nut scones ($2) and cardamom coffee cake ($2 a slice).
Hated it: The noise! Sound bounces around inside this place like a steel ball in a 1970s pinball machine.
———-
kpratt@tribune.com
