A Pasadena must-stop
Gold Line location puts La Grande Orange Café at the crossroads of easy access and quality dining
By Erica Wayne 01/14/2010
Is it The Big Orange or La Grande Orange? The name is French on the LGO Hospitality Web site that describes this restaurant and its sisters, but print them out and you’ll see the English title on the breakfast and lunch menus. No matter, the food’s mostly American eclectic: oatmeal, eggs and pancakes begin the day, burgers and tacos star at lunch with the addition of roast beef, steak and fried chicken at night.
LGO’s “oranges” are all over the place: there’s a pizzeria, a grocery, a bakery and an Italian restaurant in Phoenix (all of which are, in large part, eateries sharing many of the same recipes, although each has an individual personality); and, in Los Angeles, the newest fruit: our Pasadena “café” and a Santa Monica restaurant without a defining subtitle.
All, according to the Web site, are under the supervision of owner/chef Bob Lynn, who hails from Chicago and has operated more than 54 restaurants. Frankly, from the picture that graces his biographical blurb, he doesn’t look old enough; but the dishes I’ve sampled certainly have the requisite professionalism.
Pasadena’s Orange occupies a particularly scenic location. Its site is the 1934 Spanish-style Del Mar train station. There are two indoor rooms: one with a full-length bar (complete with TV) and the other a cozy dining room with dusty rose and turquoise walls, a wood-gabled ceiling and views to an open kitchen, the patio and, beyond it, train tracks that serve the local Metro branch.
I recently had a late breakfast at LGO Café with a friend. At 9:30, we were the only ones there, all other early diners having completed their “commuter sandwiches” ($8.50 – scrambled eggs with tomato and mayo on an English muffin with choice of bacon, ham, turkey or avocado), “daybreakers” ($8.50 – egg white omelet with tomato-avocado salsa) or bangers & eggs ($8 – two organic over-easy eggs, sausage and an English muffin with butter and jam) and headed off to work.
Ladies of leisure, we chose eggs (I scrambled, she poached) with applewood smoked bacon and multigrain bread. Only $6, this breakfast was a feast — eggs sided with salsa, toast with butter and homemade preserves. Plus, there was a sizable ramekin of fresh fruit. Coffee was a mere $1, and when I requested a refill, the server put down a new, fresh cup. (Wow!)
On another visit in prime time, we had similarly solicitous service despite the crowded dining room. We shared an ahi tuna taco platter ($16), grilled rare, served on made-to-order corn tortillas and paired with basmati rice, black beans and charred tomato salsa, with a colorful dollop of guacamole to boot. Delicious.
Then we divvied up a signature cheeseburger ($12), advertised as ground-to-order, with lettuce, tomatoes, pickle, onion, Russian dressing and grated cheddar. We could have chosen cottage cheese or coleslaw as a side, but the fries looked (and were) way too good to pass up.
I’ve never been to the café for dinner, but when I do, it’ll be to try their “Dixie” pan-fried chicken ($19 with mashed potatoes). It’s intriguingly described as being served picnic-style. Blanket on the ground? Ants? I think not. At any rate, Monday and Tuesday are the nights to go; buy one entrée at regular price and get the second for $5.
As for weekend brunch, lemon ricotta hotcakes with blueberry compote and natural maple syrup ($11) sound good, and so does prime rib hash with an over-easy egg on top - $16). The only dish that goes with the restaurant’s French name is the croque madame ($11 – open-faced grilled sandwich with ham, tomato, spicy mustard and Gruyére cheese, topped with a sunny side-up egg).
One “signature” prep is the Brussels sprout salad ($13), with aged manchego cheese, dried berries, smoked almonds and honey-mustard vinaigrette. If you ask for a topping of crumbled bacon, they give it to you for free. The salad seems to have evolved in Arizona, but only the two Los Angeles restaurants advertise berries.
Speaking of that, the LGO Web site allows a comparison of Santa Monica and Pasadena menus. The Westside location seems a bit better stocked, especially for weekday breakfasts. Not only can you get the croque madame (and monsieur!) but they cost a mere $7.95 (even less at lunch!). Oatmeal’s cheaper, too. And the beach set gets made-to-order juice combos like cucumber, mint and lemon.
Dinners are also slightly cheaper on average, and include a few dishes I’d love to try, (e.g., charred black cod in kaffir lime broth and salmon au poivre with lemon vinaigrette — each $18.95.) There’s sushi over there, and pork shoulder with apricot-mustard glaze ($19.95).
I’d love to do a comparison of LA’s two Big Orange Restaurants, but it’s not that easy. The Westside location is way over on Main Street, a 45-minute commute in good traffic (which is hardly ever). So I’ll make do (not a major sacrifice) with the Pasadena café and dream of the far-off day when the Gold Line actually connects with a train that goes to the beach.
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