Value by the book
Part library, part restaurant, Novel Cafés are pretty good at being both
By Erica Wayne 05/20/2010
The Novel Café on Colorado Boulevard in the Pasadena City College district (just across from the 99¢ Only Stores) is one of seven dotted around the Los Angeles area. They share common decorative elements — check the Web site pix. Prominent is a plethora of canisters containing organic coffees and teas (many with very odd names), bookshelves, and in some locations, floor to ceiling bookcases filled with tempting and varied reading material ranging from cookbooks and history tomes to novels (hence the name) and lots of places to park, enjoy a beverage and partake of the literature.
The menu is almost as wide-ranging as the books. There’s a bountiful breakfast selection which, along with salads, pastas, wraps and quesadillas, sandwiches and burgers, is served all day. The prices are modest, with most items priced between $8 and $11. (If you check the wine list, however, you’ll find some pretty pricey bottles mixed in with more affordable vintages.)
Most menu items are relatively familiar, but the quality of both preparation and ingredients is way above average. Omelets ($9.95-$10.95) come with roasted potatoes, fruit, cottage cheese or yogurt. Among the cheeses are goat and bleu as well as the more ordinary Swiss, cheddar and jack. Chilaquiles ($9.95) are made with a surprising choice of feta, for some extra pizzazz.
Chicken, apple and walnut salad ($10.95) sounds almost like augmented Waldorf. But the nuts are caramelized, and goat cheese, red onions and sweet mango dressing jazz it up. Novel’s club sandwich ($10.95) includes grilled chicken breast, turkey bacon and a tasty Dijon mustard sauce. And, among the burgers is a vegetarian roasted Portobello and red pepper combo with cognac mayonnaise ($9.95).
Aside from wines, coffees and teas, there are a number of artisan beers available. We shared a starter of fried calamari ($7, and very good) with mugs of Great White from the Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka, La Fin du Monde (End of the World) and Maudite (Damned) both from Unibroue in Quebec, and enjoyed them mightily until we began to notice a certain apocalyptic theme in our choices and switched to a cheerier Sam Adams.
The location of Pasadena’s Novel Café would seem to be a perfect magnet for college students; and, indeed, the tables along the east wall were full of them, almost all with laptops, most plugged in to the handy outlets behind them. About eight of them seemed to be working on a class project and, unfortunately for the restaurant, didn’t seem to have room on their table for any food.
Others, however, were managing to consume huge platters full of burgers and sandwiches, paired with mountains of thin-cut crunchy fries. After wandering around looking at book titles, tea and coffee labels and flyers promoting theatrical performances, self-help groups, language studies, dance recitals, art lessons, etc., the four of us settled down to do the same.
Although I was tempted by the idea of ending the day with some organic granola with bananas, strawberries and yogurt ($7.95), I went for a burger and fries ($7.45) instead.
I was asked how I wanted it and said “medium rare” with little expectation of success. However, the burger (at least an inch thick) did, indeed, have a lovely pink middle.
Our other entrees represented the range of the menu: a bowl of mussels (about 10) with spicy (they mean it) marinara sauce served over penne with a side of garlic toast and parmesean; an organic turkey meatloaf sandwich — the meat mixed with spinach, carrots, onions, bell peppers and baked with a hard-boiled egg in the center; and a grilled veggie quesadilla with lots of grilled “seasonal” vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, spinach and onion), tomato pesto and goat, jack or cheddar.
Each of these was $9.95 and like the burger, came with a huge mound of fries — although we could have been virtuous and ordered either fresh fruit or a mixed green salad instead. Frankly, after drinking beers touting the end of the world and eternal damnation, and watching unending ash spew from the Iceland volcano and oil gush from the bottom of the Gulf, we just didn’t think going low-cal was worth it. We did stop short of ordering one of the four cakes (carrot, chocolate, raspberry and cheese — $5.50-$5.75) that make up dessert — just in case the planet clears up unexpectedly.
Part coffee house, part library, part restaurant – the Novel Cafés are pretty good at being all of them. And the ownership seems dedicated to saving the world, or at least as much of it as they can get to, offering mostly organic foodstuffs and a commitment to sponsor some of World Vision’s children, pictures of whom are pasted on the front door. I kind of prefer the non-sectarian Save the Children and UNICEF, but I applaud contributions to any organization on the front lines. Novel’s also got a water bowl on their front patio for thirsty dogs.
So, if the Novel menu isn’t quite as innovative as restaurants like Elements, it’s still plenty good enough to satisfy most visitors. Affordable, cozy and accessible, Novel is open from 8 a.m. till 10 p.m. daily and provides a welcome refuge from morning to night.
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