Angélique Café.Angélique is open for traditional French breakfasts (bread and pastries from Commereuc’s brother’s bakery, Pain du Jour) and for lunch, featuring a great selection of salads (try the cured salmon), hot entrées and vegetarian dishes. 840 S. Spring St., downtown, (213) 623-8698. Breakfast and lunch Mon.–Sat. 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. MC, V. Entrées $6.45–$8.95. French. MH ¢ * ¤
Art’s Delicatessen.Art’s has been the best deli in the Valley since late in the Eisenhower administration, and its dense, tasty chicken soup is justifiably renowned. Lox and eggs? Kreplach soup? Crisp-skinned cheese blintzes? Well-cured salmon on fresh Brooklyn Bagel bagels? Got ’em. 12224 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 762-1221. Sun.–Thurs. 7 a.m.–9 p.m., Fri.–Sat. 7 a.m.–10 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $18–$36. Deli. JG $$ Ü ¦
Clementine.Annie Miler, a food-historian-turned-chef, makes delicious versions of great American regional favorites at her sunny breakfast, lunch and takeout café across from the Century City Shopping Mall. Rediscover the Southern ham biscuit and the all-American grilled cheese sandwich, in this case a crusty, buttery version made with marinated onions in an Italian sandwich press. 1751 Ensley Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 552-1080. No alcohol. Open Mon.–Fri. 7 a.m.–7:30 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Parking in rear lot. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entrées $7–$10. California.MH * ¦
Cora’s Coffee Shoppe.This tiniest café, a former favorite hang of surfers, pier fishermen and idlers, has been annexed by owner Bruce Marder to the high-end Capo and transformed into a smart little patio café. Inside are glass cases packed with pastries and frittatas, a couple seats and about enough room to turn around in. 1802 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 451-9562. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Tues.–Sun., 7 a.m.–9 p.m. Closed Mon. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Meal-sized dishes, $5–$14. American.MH $*
Dish.With lots of light, lots of room and smart, friendly servers, Dish is a prime example of the new American coffee shop. The look is scrubbed-California-farmhouse, the ingredients are fresh, and the menu showcases our national love of sugar, salt, meat and crunch. Have eggs or fluffy cornmeal “jonnycakes” along with applewood-smoked bacon, sausages from Shreiner’s, the local German butchers, or thick slices of baked ham. 734 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada, (818) 790-5355. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.–Fri. 7 a.m.–9:30 p.m. and Sat.–Sun. 7 a.m.–10 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entrées $7.95–$15.95. American.MH ¤
Europane.Sumi Chang, once the breakfast chef at Campanile, runs this inspired bakery/café. Her croissants are like crispy butter, her chocolate biscotti a study of cacao’s dark, sweet depths. 950 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 577-1828. Mon.–Sat. 7 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Sun. to 3 p.m. No alcohol. Parking in structure behind restaurant and on the street. Cash only. Pastries and sandwiches $2–$8.50. European Bakery.MH *
The Griddle Cafe.On a Sunday morning, the Griddle is really loud: clattering pans, a hundred shouted conversations, amplified rock & roll bouncing off the high ceilings. And the woman next to you at the counter is eating a stack of berry pancakes so large that it looks like a movie prop, like three large pizzas piled on top of one another and smothered in powdered sugar. The enormous pancakes are available blanketed in cinnamon streusel, or spiked with Kahlua and Bailey’s, or smothered under an improbable mass of whipped cream and crumbled Oreos, and they are not the best pancakes in Los Angeles, but they are good enough. 7916 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 874-0377. Breakfast and lunch, Mon.–Fri. 7 a.m.–3 p.m., Sat.–Sun. 8 a.m.–3 p.m. Beer. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, MC, V. Food for two: $12–$18. American.JG $ *
John O’Groats.The restaurant is named after a town at the northernmost point in Scotland, but the menu is pretty much all-American, with baking-powder biscuits, fluffy omelets, smoked pork chops, and stretchy buckwheat pancakes. And although there seem to be no actual groats on the menu — which is kind of a relief — the steel-cut Irish oatmeal with bananas and heavy cream is fine. 10516 W. Pico Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 204-0692. Breakfast and lunch daily, dinner Wed.–Sat. Beer and wine. Street parking. MC, V. Entrées $9–$14. American.JG ¢
Marston’s.At breakfast, Marston’s serves exactly the sort of food a missionary might crave after a stint in rural Peru: thin, buckwheat-based blueberry pancakes, nut-crammed macadamia pancakes and thick, applewood-smoked bacon. Marston’s may be a little Calvinist in its hours (it closes on Sundays and Mondays and stops serving breakfast abruptly at 11 a.m.), perhaps guided by the notion that laggards don’t deserve to eat anything as good as its golden, cornflake-breaded French toast. 151 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, (626) 796-2459. Breakfast and lunch Tues.–Fri. 7–11 a.m., 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., Sat.–Sun. 8 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Dinner Wed.–Sat. 5:30–9:30 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. MC, V. Entrées $5–$11. American.JG $
