Vegetarian Lunch?!?

On Saturday I was in a major rush to get something to eat in an hour, and something new to me. I stupidly went down to the Lincoln Center Library from 85th Street to look for out of print music that wasn't even available to look at... Anyway, I took a cab all the way to 83rd, because time made it look like I had to go to Hale and Hearty (which isn't bad, I just eat there too much). However, the cab was going down 83rd and I saw this "Cafe Lalo" which I had always seen and had never gone into. This is what it looks like from the outside:

So, I stop the cab, get out and go into this restaurant hoping that I can get a seat, eat quickly, and get back to the conservatory. I walk in and I was bombarded with a massive conglomerate of great smells and I knew that I was in the right place. I walked by the main counter to see all of the incredible desserts that they had to offer there and I was sat at my table.

I almost had a heart attack when my waitress said that there was no meat being served at this cafe. However, I didn't have time to waste. I ordered a mushroom-gruyere quiche and an order of hand cut fries (which is another weakness of mine).

My order came out very quickly with this beautiful slice of quiche sitting on the plate that was definitively the best combination of puff pastry, German cheese, and mushrooms on the planet. Moving on to the fries. Some of the best, most flavorful fries I have ever had, and it was served "David-Size" in a small red bucket which was hard for me to finish with that heavy quiche.

It turned out to me that what was the scariest thought of not having meat turned out to be one of the best lunches I've ever had, next to Jean Georges Nougatine.