an Ithaca Eats preview:
Lost Dog Cafe
www.lostdogcafe.net
coming to the Morris Shoes building on Cayuga St., off the west end of the Commons.

Posted on: 02/21/00

If you've passed by the Morris building on Cayuga St. recently you'll notice the cryptic window painting, "Have you seen our dog?". This is the teaser for the Lost Dog Cafe, which acquired its spot in the Morris building to general applause this past autumn.

The Lost Dog Cafe presently exists in a single location down in our scraggly neighbor city Binghamton. Building on its successful "greenwich village" theme, they're coming to Ithaca -- a sensible move. Although we at Ithaca Eats limit our reviews to Ithaca area restaurants, we felt that we could justify a preview of the Lost Dog by visiting its Binghamton location. Maybe we can help generate a local buzz among the ten readers (and counting!) of this site who actually live around here!

Circumstances dictated that we visit the Lost Dog on a Sunday, which prevented us from trying most of their renowned dishes due to the brunch menu in effect. Nonetheless, the feel of the Lost Dog was evident, and we're definitely looking forward to its Ithaca incarnation.

The atmosphere is striking in a "this feels just like an East Village hangout as depicted in a movie" sort of way -- that could come off as sounding artificial, but it's not. Slightly slick, yes, in a "not actually grungy"/"we laminated the menus" way, but we've grown beyond our appreciation of true grunginess anyway -- the cleaner version is fine by us. The cast of characters were all there, from the plucky bass of the jazz diddlers to the oversized chairs, loft ceilings, and lots of bright colored modern art.

But beyond the environs is where it really counts, and the food is a hit. Our brunch dishes -- a tomato and zucchini frittata and a grilled chicken type of sandwich -- were quality preparations, and the sweet potato fries quite addictive. Dessert, a trendy molten chocolate blob covered in homemade banana ice cream, was definitely best shared by two, and an impressive finish. Prices at the Cafe are fair -- not bargain basement, but not especially excessive either, typically in the $6-$12 range.

In the end, the hype is right -- the Lost Dog Cafe is a winner, and we hope they succeed at extending their streak to Ithaca, where, frankly, the Lost Dog is probably an even better fit.