Something new under the sun

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Vegetarians and people who have to go back to work without a siesta can head to the Eat cart for a virtuous tagine of parsnips and other root vegetables, garbanzo beans, and kale in a softly spiced broth. Lamb and beef entrees are also available. Chef Blake Reetz adapted the recipe for his fruit pies from ones passed down in his farm family; with a honey-sweet layer between their filling and their flaky crusts, the pies are such a huge draw that you might miss out if you come late in the meal hour.

Popular at the Lunch Room vegan food cart (the tallest and the only wood-paneled one) is fresh Thai-style slaw that's served beside a barbecue tofu sandwich; tuck it under the bun for a great $5 lunch. Romaine lettuce in the "vegan way Caesar salad" was crispy, but flavorless garbanzo beans seemed out of place, and I longed for a robust garlic and lemon dressing. A cute and healthy kids' meal of PBJ, carrot sticks, and applesauce plays off the Lunch Room's name and is topped off with a chocolate-chip cookie. Grownups will want to opt for one of the crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside Mexican hot chocolate cookies, charismatically cayenne charged throughout.

The tapas-oriented Debajo del Sol cart has another light and bright dessert: a trio of almond cookies, made with almond meal and thus gluten free, per chef Cristina Trapani-Scott's family recipe. Cool melon soups rotate through this cart's creative menu. If a splurge is in order, there's an outrageous chorizo corn dog, or exotic Quebecois poutine-esque potatoes fried in duck fat, then swamped with sausage gravy and blue cheese.

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