The Favorite Place

Today we went to Glendale to the Vintage Paper and Postcard Show. That was very interesting. I was so surprised to see so many postcards, pictures, magazines and other unusual items such as swizzle sticks and a few fishing lures. I was especially interested in finding the old Life magazine that had the article and pictures from our feminist center. Ironically, the cover of this magazine has Richard Nixon in a football uniform. I have a copy but I always look for another if I can find one. As of now, I have yet to find that magazine. Looking at all those old postcards etc. made me hungry so we looked in our GPS to find a place to eat that was nearby and found The Favorite Place. How could I pass up a restaurant with that name?

As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed it was quite small and almost every table was taken. We were seated and received a menu immediately. Favorite Place looks like a tea room and then I saw that it has many awards on the wall, one of which said it was the best Russian restaurant in Glendale. It might also be the cutest with a lot of flowery items around, even on the lighting. The tables had white table clothes and a vase with a fresh flower in it. We were asked about drinks and I had iced tea while B ordered their famous rosewater lemonade. The iced tea had a flowery flavor, something like Chinese tea, and was delicious. The lemonade was excellent and beautiful and refreshing. Both drinks were refilled continuously, much to our happiness.

B ordered the Favorite luncheon which consists of the rosewater lemonade, house salad, five different finger sandwiches, a dessert tray and coffee ($28). I chose the smoked salmon (lox) sandwich which came with a tomato salad ($14) and iced tea ($3). Before we ordered, excellent bread, butter and black olives in flavored olive oil were delivered to the table. Then came the tomatoes cut nicely on the plate drizzled with the same olive oil that was on the black olives. They were cold and fresh. Both of us got the tomatoes although it wasn’t listed in B’s luncheon. Then came B’s salad and, lo and behold, the female owner came and gave me a salad also, which I really hadn’t ordered or wanted. Much to my surprise, it was delicious. There were various lettuces and an eatable flower in a wonderful dressing that had sesame seeds in it. The dressing had a little sweetness to it and, surprisingly, was not overdone. The male owner then came to ask me if I would mind having my sandwich on olive bread rather than sourdough and I happily agreed.

My sandwich had lox, yogurt, various greens and dill on the olive bread. It was fantastic. The lox melted in my mouth and I was shocked at how nice the yogurt was and probably healthier than cream cheese. Since I had overdosed on bread and had finished my entire salad, I could only eat ½ of my sandwich, taking the rest home for dinner tonight. We were quite surprised when we saw B’s “finger” sandwiches. There were five different types of sandwiches, tastefully displayed on a stemmed fluted tray. Seeing that other sandwiches were huge, I think I understand why these were called “finger” sandwiches. However, they looked more like sandwiches to me as to their size. There were two of each kind – smoked turkey roll, eggplant wrap, Russian ham, tuna salad and, the only one I didn’t care for (I tasted every one), spicy egg salad. They were excellent and B enjoyed half of them considerably. The rest came home for dinner. Then she was served dessert – with two forks so I could share – and full-bodied coffee. The dessert was again beautifully arranged and consisted of two cupcakes – one white with pink frosting and one with red frosting – strawberries, grapes and eatable flowers. B said that the cupcakes were delicious. The strawberries were a bit sour but the grapes were wonderful. B’s entire meal is certainly one to share which makes it very reasonable.

The Favorite Place is at 115 W. Wilson in Glendale, CA. The phone number is 818-507-7409 and they do take reservations. The wesbsite is www.favoriteplacerestaurant.com . They are open for lunch, Monday through Saturday. I highly recommend it as a lovely place with excellent rather unusual food.