(Last UPDATED 8/3/2022) Description and review the High Hand Cafe located on the grounds of the High-Hand Nursery in Loomis.
A friend and I met a mutual friend who lives in Loomis at the High-Hand Nursery Café (High-Hand Café) for lunch on a recent Sunday. The High-Hand Café is on the grounds of the High-Hand Nursery in Loomis. The nursery is approximately 24 miles from Sacramento.
High-Hand Nursery is what I call a “destination”. Not only does the High-Hand Nursery carry a wide array of what you would expect to find at a top-notch nursery – but the complex is also home to the High-Hand Café, a variety of shops, and the High-Hand Art Gallery.
The two of us had arrived a bit early for lunch, so we took advantage of the time to take a brief tour of the various shops in the complex. This was my first time there, while it had been years since my friend had last been there.
See related post: High-Hand Nursery Shops and Art Gallery
After taking our tour of the shops we walked through the nursery towards the café while admiring the large variety of trees, plants and garden art. A musician set up on the small stage next to the koi pond provided added ambiance. A very nice touch!
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High-Hand Café is very popular, particularly on the weekend, so our friend had made reservations in advance. We were glad she did as we were getting hungry, and appreciated being immediately seated.
The setting of the High-Hand Café is very attractive, with lots of greenery. It was a warm day, but the ceiling fans in the section in which we were seated kept the air circulating.
Menu/Review
Beverages
It was after 1:00 p.m. so we decided to order drinks with our lunch. The Bloody Mary ($11) appealed to one friend, while another opted for a glass of sparkling wine – the Roederer Estate Brut ($12). I ordered the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc ($8) as I reasoned that it was likely to go well with whatever I ordered for lunch.
The High-Hand Café menu offers a nice variety of specialty beverages, sparkling and rose wines, red and white wines, and handcrafted beers and ciders along with a variety of (nonalcoholic) hot and cold drinks.
Menu
At the suggestion of our friend from Loomis we ordered the house-made potato chips (served with lemon artichoke dip) ($10) to start.
It was very difficult choosing what to order for lunch. Numerous items on the menu appealed. I was also torn between brunch and lunch.
We sipped our drinks and enjoyed the chips and dip as we chatted and worked our way through the possibilities.
One friend was in the mood for pizza. She ordered the Garlic Kale (with Brussel sprouts, pine nuts and mozzarella) ($18). The other friend opted for the ½ Rotisserie tri-tip sandwich (with house-made blue cheese dressing and fresh avocado) ($8). Although I had been eyeing the brunch offerings and salads I ordered the ½ Apple cider marinated chicken breast sandwich (with apple-walnut butter and California brie) ($8). The sandwiches were served with either potato salad or Maple Rock vegetable salad. My friend ordered the potato salad, and I ordered the vegetable salad.
Review
The pizza looked great – and was said to be delicious. As it was a good sized pizza she had leftovers to take home. No doubt her husband was grateful.
As for the sandwiches, my friend and I were both really glad that we had selected the ½ sandwich option. There was no way either of us could have finished a “full-sized” sandwich.
The tri-tip sandwich received high marks. The meat was tender and flavorful, and the blue-cheese dressing and avocado were complementary. As my friend remarked – she would never have thought to add blue-cheese dressing and avocado to a tri-tip sandwich – but it worked. Afterwards, she added that it had been the best tri-tip sandwich she had ever had!
My chicken breast sandwich was delicious – although it was a bit messy. I enjoyed every bite as a combination of apple-walnut butter and melted brie ran down my hand. We asked for additional napkins from a passing server and all was good.
The potato salad and vegetable salad, on the other hand, did not impress. Both were judged rather bland and in need of seasoning.
After lunch we lingered and chatted for a bit before we headed out to wander around the nursery and shops. As we sat there it was hard not to notice and admire several of the desserts being delivered to nearby tables. Maybe another time.
To sum up, I look forward to returning to High-Hand Café and trying some of their other offerings.
Updates
(8/3/2022) Broken link repaired.
(5/10/19) High-Hand Nursery Cafe landed the #82 spot on the 2019 Yelp Top 100 Brunch Spots in the U.S. Way to go High-Hand Nursery Cafe!
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