Artichoke from Sonoma Chicken Coop

This was the Wine Grilled Artichoke from Sonoma Chicken Coop, a group of shops in San Jose that based on the name alone would not have been a place that I would have wanted to go to. But I needed a nearby meal before rushing off to a meeting in the afternoon, so we popped on in for a quick bite. Besides, having artichokes on the menu wasn't going to require much more convincing for me.

The good thing was that I liked what they did with these, as the flame grilling and wine marination gave it an appealing aroma that one doesn't get from more simpler forms of preparation. I also gave their "Roost-tisserie" chicken a try, which turned out to be very tender and juicy. But they put so much of their warm lemon vinaigrette sauce onto it that this thing was literally dripping in olive oil.

So while the food was better than I thought it would be, it was in many ways still the cafeteria-like chain that I had feared in the first place. Frankly, I also worry about getting anything other than the rotisserie chicken here, especially given that pathetically lifeless pizza slice that they puzzlingly tossed onto each plate. But if I'm in a bind again and need something quick, then at least I can take comfort in the fact that this place is far beyond that nasty Swiss Chalet place in Canada.