Nordstrom Bistro (La Cantera)

My first encounter with Nordstrom came in a college business class. We were talking about customer service, and the Nordstrom department store was held up as an excellent example. I learned that a man once returned car tires to Nordstrom, convinced that he had bought them there. In the spirit of customer service, they had obliged him.

It sounded outrageous to me at the time, but a recent check on Snopes revealed that the story is, in fact, true. Once upon a time, Nordstrom had begun occupying a building that was previously leased by a tire store. The confused man was insistent, and they granted his request.

While my own stories are not as dramatic, I have had some excellent experiences here. For example, when we lived in San Francisco, I treated myself to a very luxurious, plush robe. The people at Nordstrom offered to alter the long robe. They measured me, and promised to have it ready in a few days. I returned only to find that someone had accidentally put it back on the rack, where it was purchased by someone no doubt as vertically challenged as myself. In order to make it up to me, they refunded me the entire amount of the robe, and gave me a new one for free.

The value of the merchandise in just one store location is probably worth more than several small countries combined. However, they have several sales a year, and some good values can be had even year-round. Just last week, I bought a really cute Russian nesting doll shirt for one of my daughters for $6. I was thrilled. This was just minutes before going to the women's section upstairs where I passed a plain purple shirt that was - and I am being completely honest here - on SALE for $455. This was marked down from the regular price of $775. Wow! A savings of over $300! I can't believe I passed it up.

On the same trip, I met a woman in the dressing room who told me that she had just bought an $80 headband from the Chanel store. Ok....I usually get my daughters' headbands at HEB, but if you have the spare change, maybe a fabulous headband is worth that. But the funny thing is that she really didn't care about the headband. She had only bought the headband because she thinks the little Chanel paper merchandise bags are cute.

What??? Ok, I am obviously out of my league here. This would be analogous to me buying a filet mignon at the grocery store just to have the plastic HEB bag that it will be carried in.

But I digress. These are only some recent experiences I have had there.

The real reason that I frequent Nordstrom is for their upstairs Bistro.

Let me set the stage.

You walk into Nordstrom and into a gentle breeze of perfume near the cosmetics. Everyone greets you with happy and genuine smiles. It is a Silver Wonderland, with everything decorated in hues of the luminous color. In the background, you hear a jazzy tune on a piano. You discover, as you walk closer, that there is a live pianist in a tuxedo playing on a glossy black grand piano. You think for a moment that you are at some sort of royal ball. Then you see the escalator behind him, and your dream bursts as you realize that Buckingham Palace probably doesn't have an escalator.

He switches to an arrangement of "Piano Man" by Billy Joel, one of your favorites. As you glide up to the next level, you think of waitresses practicing politics and Davy, who's still in the Navy, and probably will be for life.

At the top, you see the designer section, but you turn the corner and head to the Bistro.

Ah - the Bistro. This is definitely a secret worth keeping. At lunchtime, a long line will wrap around the Junior's section, but in off-hours, you can easily get a table. The menu is full of salads and sandwiches as "designer" as the area that you have just passed through. The creme brulee looks tempting, but you must order lunch first.

My recent favorite has been the chicken/artichoke salad. It features romaine lettuce with grilled chicken, marinated artichokes, sweet red peppers, and pungent feta cheese. The combination is nothing short of divine. I'm thrilled when my husband wants to share entrees, because then I can have half the salad AND pick from one of the sandwiches. He favors the sliced sirloin on ciapatta bread with garlic aioli, and I like the rosemary ham and Swiss.

You order at a counter, which is great because it means that this already well-priced meal will be even less because there won't be a full tip involved. (As an ex-waitress, I am a generous tipper, so it is always a bit of a relief when we're in a less-than-full-tip kind of establishment.)

One person takes your order, another walks you to your table, and another brings you your drinks and meal. They all behave as if they could not possibly think of any better way to spend their day than serving you. Once again, you might be tempted to think that you are at a grand queenly affair, but a look out the window at the Six Flags Superman Ride brings you back down to earth.

My mother-in-law always orders hot tea. Her hot water is served in a little white teapot as the waiter brings out a copious assortment of exotic-sounding teas in a mahogany box.

The meal is finished off with a lovely treat of a soft peppermint stick covered in dark chocolate. This is definitely better than the crinkle-wrapped peppermints given out anywhere else. A waiter looking for a bit more of a tip might leave you with two per person, instead of one.

I hesitate to advertise this wonderful San Antonio secret, for fear that the tiny Nordstrom Bistro will be overrun with enthusiastic diners, but that wouldn't be in keeping with the theme of my blog, would it?

Visit the Nordstrom Bistro Website!

HINT: They sell some of their best salad dressings at the Bistro for $4.99. Try their Cherry Balsamic - it is out of this world, and I practically won't use anything else anymore.