Fond: Lunch and Deli

Ready or not, I'm truly fond of this place

     I started to think about my lunch at Fond and I found myself wanting more.  More information and more of their food.  I REALLY wanted to like this place, but there were a couple of things that happened when we were there that had me on the fence.  So I decided to wait for a return visit to make my final call.

     Ethan Snider is the chef owner and a hummus aficionado.  He's been making the artisan dips locally for almost three years and selling at local farmers markets and Park + Vine.  Opening his own storefront in Montgomery created a whole new avenue for peddling his wares, as well as products from other local start-ups in the culinary field.  It all sounded intriguing for a lunch stop in that area of town.

Tuna Melt with Sausage Chili Bean Soup

     Karen and I first visited last week.  It was a hot day for May and the door was open to the strip center store with dining tables inside and out.  It took a while to get through the
blackboard menu of the day, finding both the familiar and slightly offbeat.  The Grilled Hummus and Cheese Sandwich caught my attention, while the Tuna Melt was calling Karen.  We decided to share the sandwiches in order to sample more of the offerings.  Ethan was the only visible worker, so I was curious as to how all of this was going to work.  Karen placed her sandwich order with him, adding a cup of the Sausage Chili Bean Soup. As we suspected, Ethan was doing it all and he went to work on Karen's order.  It all seemed a little odd that he didn't take my order, but it gave us more time to peruse the place and look through the 6-8 offerings of hummus, as well as soups, pickles, honey, cookies and more from the Fond kitchen and other local artisans.  Her lunch was packed and ready and we were off!  But wait…we were lunching in and I didn't have anything to eat yet!  Ethan apologized profusely and heated up the grill immediately for my sandwich made with my choice of "Gussie" hummus with garbanzo beans and asparagus.  

Grilled Gussie Hummus and Jarlsberg Cheese Sandwich

     At last we were ready for our food tasting to begin.  The Albacore tuna salad had a light dressing and slivers of carrot.  Melted Jarlsberg cheese complemented the mixture along with the artisan bread.  The soup was dense and flavorful, but too spicy for my low tolerance taste buds.  The hummus sandwich was my favorite. Its consistency was creamy with a bite from the melted cheese that blended oh so well on more of the artisan bread.  Both choices were simple with light and complex flavor combinations.  Wavy homemade potato chips with a coating of herbs accompanied the selections.

      Not everything was working well on our initial visit, but I could tell that the owner was taking it seriously and processing the scenario.  How did I know that?  My sandwich was gratis and that was enough to tell me that this place is in it to make it, allowing me to form my final decision without reservation or another visit.

     Thank you, Ethan and much success!

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