Michele Diaz-Ware has worked in corporate dining as well as upscale restaurants, but she is happiest operating Little Radish at the Ferry Market in New Hope.
Diaz-Ware has put her culinary training to work at Little Radish, which she opened last August in the market. There she crafts soups and salads for vegans, vegetarians and meat-eaters, plus some gluten-free treats on the weekends.
After a career in restaurants and catering, by last summer, “I was ready for my first restaurant,” said Diaz-Ware.
She quickly developed a following for her ever-changing seasonally-inspired soups and her hearty salads such as Call Me Bleu, a combination of spinach, kale, orzo, blue cheese, beets, cucumbers, carrots, pickled red onion and pumpkin seeds topped with her own balsamic vinaigrette. Other customer favorites include A Little Middle East, which is spring mix and red cabbage with farro, feta cheese, tomato, cucumber and chick peas topped with lemon tahini dressing.
Other salads are Kale to Caesar with romaine, shaved parmesan, gluten-free croutons and Caesar dressing; and Tex Mex Mama with romaine, queso fresco, pickled red onion, pickled jalapenos, corn, black beans peppers, carrots, tomatoes and avocado with a cilantro lime vinaigrette.
She is careful to avoid cross-contamination with her ingredients so that vegans can be confident her dishes are animal-free, while meat-eaters can ask her to finish off their salads with changing options of grilled chicken, tofu, steak, shrimp and salmon.
Because she keeps her ingredients separate Diaz-Ware also invites her customers to craft their own salad by choosing from her ingredients and dressings.
Diaz-Ware sources her produce locally whenever possible, and all of her dishes and utensils are made from biodegradable plastic.
During the cold weather the chef is adding hot dishes to her menu as specials even as she is working hard to include more vegan options. On weekends she uses her pastry chef training to make homespun gluten-free treats such as whoopie pies and fruit crisps. Her menu is almost entirely gluten-free; the exception is the farro she puts on one of the salads.
She is working on a new menu for the spring; for now, customers are showing up regularly to dine on her hearty soups and salads.
When Little Radish opened it joined a variety of vendors offering Indian, Italian, Greek and Peruvian cuisines as well as pulled pork, paninis, chocolates, cookies, wine and beer.
LITTLE RADISH
Ferry Market
32 S. Main St., New Hope
LittleRadishKitchen.com
215-688-1468
Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Mon., Wed. & Sun.; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thu-Sat., closed Tuesday.
Cost: Salads $9 & $12, protein add-ons $3-$7; soups $5 & $6.50.
Customer favorites: Call Me Bleu spinach salad, A Little Middle East salad with lemon tahini dressing, vegan cream of broccoli soup.
susan.yeske@gmail.com
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