Kale. There was so much kale. It wasn't marinated with lemon juice to weaken the thick, nearly-impossible-to-chew leaves, and the sprinkling of quinoa, edamame, carrot shreds, and almonds was pretty much lost in the intimidating mound of it. But I was undeterred—I was on a mission to tackle that salad—so I chewed. And chewed. And chewed some more. Yes, my jaw hurt afterward, and, yes, kale was stuck in my teeth for hours, but was it good? Indeed, it was.

Aside from the problematic kale-to- anything-else ratio, the worst part of the salad, served up at Evergreens (evergreens-salad.com), the new salad place downtown, was the name—Dooon't Stop... Be Veeegan. Oh, how I loathe "cute" menu names. Unfortunately, quite a few of the salads at Evergreens have them: the Cobbsby Show, with chicken, avocado, and bacon; Pearly Legal, with Gorgonzola and pear; and Blazin' Asian, with baby oranges, edamame, and sesame sticks.

But dumb names be damned: Evergreens is a refreshing addition to downtown Seattle's lunch options. The herbed-mint vinaigrette that attempted to cover Kale Mountain was flavorful—the shop takes pride in their house-made dressings that come in flavors like blueberry sriracha, roasted tomato, and orange ginger—and it was pretty cool to watch Evergreens' salad makers chop the ingredients with the double mezzaluna knife, a moon-shaped blade that rocked back and forth on the counter, cutting everything down to size.

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