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Ingredient restaurant here in Lawrence seems to have a winning formula in combining tasty, freshly prepared foods with quick service. According to the KC Star, the business opened a second location Saturday (May 3, 2008) in the new Park Place retail center in south Leawood. But that’s not all; it is installing what the restaurant biz would call a “new concept” called I-Bar in the space next door to its Lawrence location, and it’s now offering a breakfast menu, at least in Lawrence. That’s a lot going on for a business that just opened last summer.

I-Bar promises an appealing combo: chocolate, wine, coffee

First, a couple of notes about the local restaurant. It’s website finally has been found by the search engines, but it hasn’t been updated. And I haven’t called the owners, so what I know is what I’ve observed. It’s regular menu (PDF) is available on the Ingredient website, and here’s the breakfast menu (click on thumbnails to see at readable size):

As to the appeal of the current offerings, I offer up two lunches from last week:

Above is the Salmon Flats salad. Maybe you can tell by the size of the avocado quarter, but in any case it’s a big salad. The bowl is deep (about 4 inches) and 9-10 inches in diameter. The menu description: “Cajun salmon, crisp greens, avocado, roasted peppers, black beans, roma tomato and fresh cilantro layered between crisp tortillas and spun with our roasted garlic chipotle dressing 9.95.” What makes it and the other salads especially nice is that they are made just before serving, and grilled components, such as this perfectly cooked salmon filet, likewise are hot off the grill. Can’t say I love the unnatural red of the tortilla, but it’s a small quibble.

Here’s Friday’s half-pizza/half-salad combo. The half pizza (half of about a 11-iinch pizza) included a garlic sauce, tomatoes, roasted red peppers and pepperoni; the half salad was Caesar salad, with generous amounts of paper-thin Parmesan slices.

Meanwhile, as evidence of Ingredient’s commitment to service, I ordered a couple of pizzas for a Final Four basketball-watching extravaganza a couple of hours in advance of pickup (and the game). When I went to pick them up, they weren’t ready. The manager apologized and gave me a coupon for $10—the price of a pizza. Can’t complain about that.