Plant Power (Lady and the Shallot)

Lady and the Shallot, Trenton Farmer's Market, 960 Spruce Street, Trenton, NJ
Open W-Th 11 AM-3 PM, F-Sa 11 AM- 4 PM, Su 10 AM-4 PM
(347) 343-2694   Website    Google Maps

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(Covid Update Dec 2021 – in business) Lady and the Shallot serves a limited but well-conceived menu of exclusively vegan, gluten-free, and tree-nut-free food. Execution is great, but not transcendent. Vegetarian or vegetarian-leaning eaters will be completely happy here, especially if they are gluten-sensitive or nut-allergic or lactose intolerant. Non-vegetarians will enjoy the fresh-made food as well, though hard-core carnivores will probably want to pick up their lunch at another stand in the Trenton Farmer’s market (where great meat-centered choices abound), and meet up at some neutral location to share the meal.

Francesca and Kate run the operation with a joyous spirit. Researching this review by myself, I showed up a few times to sample different items. The first time, both Francesca (dark hair) and Kate (light hair) greeted me warmly. The second time, a few days later, Francesca remembered me. The following week, I was treated like a long-lost regular. That’s the way it should be for all small businesses like this, but so often isn’t.

I researched this review in late September, just as the “summer” menu was ending and before the winter menu was up, so I expect some items described here to disappear, and others to be added. On the menu when we visited were 9 items altogether:

  • Tacos (2 items) served on soft corn tortillas:  1) green lentils, mushrooms, arugula, with homemade tahini sauce (header image), or 2) avocado, corn, chickpeas, tomatoes, cabbage with a lemon-caper aioli.
  • Salads (2): Greek or Market
    Greek Salad
  • Flatbread (2): toasted, gluten-free pita, toasted, topped with either “sweet shallot” mixture (carmelized shallots, garlic, arugula, balsamic)  or Italian (white bean puree, tomatoes, garlic, basil)
    Sweet Shallot Flatbread
  • Sandwich (1): roasted portobello mushroom with arugula, red pepper, carmelized shallots, balsamic spread
  • Avocado Toast (2): California or Curry Toast

Service is generally pretty quick, even when they’re busy (which is often, at least during peak lunch hours).  You can “dine in” at a few tables or take out.  Prices are reasonable for the quality.

Note, that because of its location in the Trenton Farmer’s Market, it’s closed Monday and Tuesdays, and open really only for lunch.

Kate and Francesca

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