Cafe Nola - I feel trendy coming here

Cafe Nola
333 North Laura Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202-3505
(904) 224-0113
www.mocajacksonville.org

Inside the Museum of Contemporary Art downtown in Hemming Plaza (what used to be called JMOMA, a much catchier title IMO) is a snazzy artsy fartsy cafe (think modern sheek, makes you want to dress better when you go there) that has delectable lunch items ranging from lobster mac and cheese to seared tuna salad with hearts of palm, chicken and turkey focaccia sandwiches and italian dips, just to name a few dishes. I have been there at least 10 or more times in my lifetime and enjoy it every time, although it's a little on expensive side (as far as lunches go downtown, if the total bill including a drink is not under $10, it's expensive to me - of course, I never lived in NY and my best friend from NY thinks that is fairly cheap).

Such a popular place to see and be seen, esp for business lunch or with your coworkers; I went with my coworkers and on a scale of 1-10, the average score was about 7 or 8. I had the "Thanksgiving turkey foccacia" sandwich served hot and melty with a cranberry aioli and a side salad with carmelized onions; the buttery rolls and fruit flavored butter came out first, and those are always a big hit.
I thoroughly enjoyed my sandwich although when the sauce inside the sandwich ran out, my turkey was incredibly salty. Washing it down with my tea helped though.

Three male coworkers ordered sandwiches also, 2 Italian dips that came with white and sweet potato fries sprinkled with rosemary and parmesan cheese and some dipping sauch and 1 jerk chicken wrap. Italian dips were a success, silence and only a few minutes passed when the dips were consumed (it seemed fast but then perhaps I've been watching Man v. Food too much); the jerk chicken wrap got an average review. Three female coworkers ordered seared tuna salad with hearts of palm with macadamia nuts (an excellent meal), chicken curry with coconut rice (good but won't order again, did not excite the consumer as much as she had hoped), and the chicken salad (a score of 6 out of 10, good flavor, not too much mayo but she's had better). Company: score of 11. All in all, everyone enjoyed the meal, sure beat the same ol' sandwich or frozen Lean Cuisine, that's for sure! Can't beat staring at the art while scarfing down good food, try to find time to check out the Marilyn Monroe exhibit while it's there.