The Dogwood Café: Pleasing the Vegetarian Palate

The Dogwood Café near the Forest Hills station is an attractive restaurant and bar that serves pub fare, American and Italian comfort food and specializes in brick oven pizzas. 

“There are lots of ways to make meatless pizzas,” said manager Matt Fay.  “People around here have discerning palates. At some restaurants, the vegetarian dishes are just a consortium of side dishes.”

Not so at The Dogwood, which I visited for lunch on several occasions. Sure, there’s really excellent pizza, but there’s also a large selection of appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrées for vegetarian diners to choose from the lengthy menu.

For starters, there’s the Spinach Artichoke Dip ($8.99), made with goat cheese and cream cheese and served with homemade pita chips. The Vegetable Pot Stickers ($8.99) are pan-fried and complemented by a spicy soy dipping sauce. Potato Skins ($7.99) and Mozzarella Sticks ($7.99) are classic bar food accompaniments to one of the Dogwood’s many draft and bottled beers, or specialty cocktails.

Healthier appetizers include the restaurant’s many salads such as the Mixed Green ($5.99), Arugula ($8.99) or Apple Gorgonzola ($8.99).  For something a little different, my dining companion and I shared the Warm Tomato Salad ($8.99) comprised of slightly sautéed tomatoes, fresh basil, romaine, goat cheese, balsamic vinaigrette and a garlicky toasted baguette. The original salad’s combination of hot and cold flavors was a fresh and delicious prelude to one of the restaurant’s pizzas.

The pizzas are cooked before your eyes in the brick oven, which burns a mixture of hardwoods, and there are indeed many meatless pizzas available. The specialties of the house are all named after trees in the neighboring Arnold Arboretum, like the Chestnut, ($10.99 small or $15.99 large) made with spinach, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, feta, garlic and basil, or the Naughty Pine ($8.99 small or $13.99 large) containing portobello mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, red onions and mozzarella. Of course, you can also customize your pizza by selecting from the Dogwood’s long list of pizza toppings.

With so many choices, we settled on the namesake Dogwood Pizza ($11.99 small or $15.99 large), electing to eliminate the prosciutto, and could not have been happier with the thin crust pizza topped with artichoke hearts, green peppers, mushrooms and mozzarella.

The restaurant also offers a selection of meatless sandwiches, all served with the vegetable of the day, your choice of potatoes (fried, baked or garlic mash), rice pilaf or a salad. We bypassed the Dogwood Veggie Burger ($7.99), made with a Morningstar patty, in favor of the more unique Portobello Burger ($7.99) and Eggplant Panini ($8.99). Both are tasty ways to eat your veggies. 

Even carnivores would likely be satisfied with the Portobello Burger. The grilled beefy mushrooms were dressed for success with the addition of roasted eggplant, red peppers, fresh mozzarella and basil pesto. The Eggplant Panini was a delicious pressed sandwich of breaded eggplant, melted cheese, tomato sauce and baby greens. 

The Dogwood Café is spacious, attractively furnished and moderately priced. Our server, Mike, sought to please at every turn. Other reasons to return include the restaurant’s veggie-friendly brunch, served on weekends from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and some of its entrées, like Vegetable Lasagna ($12.99), Vegetable Stir Fry ($12.99), Pasta a la Vodka ($14.99), Stuffed Eggplant ($13.99) and Mac-n-Cheese ($11.99).

The Dogwood has long been a neighborhood favorite for diners on that end of JP. Unfortunately, I live at the opposite end of town and until now had only visited infrequently. With its emphasis on fresh, homemade foods, friendly service, and an expansive menu of vegetarian dishes, I wish that I lived closer.

Located at 3712 Washington Street, The Dogwood Café (617-522-7997) is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., and serves a weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Vegetarian, Raw and Vegan with Bill & Sheila