Saturday, June 23, 2007

Let's eat: The Colony Cafe


The Westside-Pavilion adjacent Colony Cafe is, as famously described in the Los Angeles Times magazine before its demise, a project that Lily Tartikoff conjured up for her daughter Calla. My take: Colony Cafe isn't a vanity project: It's all about the food.
Colony Cafe features sandwiches, burgers, and dogs; its other side, Papa's Porch, features sweets, including a pomegranate limeade that is tart and delicious (I could easily alternate between this and Clementine's ginger limeade like, forever). S and I met there on a recent Saturday; at 12:30, the mostly outdoor tables were not crowded, and we lazed on the front porch, oblivious to the noise of Pico just a few steps away, over our lunch.
S went for the vegetable sandwich: veggies, hummus, and sprouts on whole-grain bread, wholesome and delicious. At the other end of the spectrum, I had a chili dog; the Nathan's dog had bite, the chili was mild but not wimpy, and the matchstick fries I had alongside were difficult to stop eating. They come in a garlic version, too, pictured above -- but that's where I wimped out. There was Nordstrom to conquer across the street, preferably without fire breath.
The Colony Cafe is at 10937 West Pico, near Kelton, across the street and a little west of the Westside Pavilion, and is open daily 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. I will certainly be back; nice to have another choice in that nabe for the weekends when the Apple Pan crowd gets aggressive.
photo from supermod via Flickr.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Bif,

When I take a break from my duties as head of the Peeps Patrol and manage to escape the hinterlands for the Westside, the ONLY destination for me is the Apple Pan. While I enjoyed your review of the Colony Cafe (as I have enjoyed all of your restaurant reviews), and their menu does sound interesting ('specially those fries), I simply cannot imagine passing up a Hickory Burger and slice of chocolate cream pie in favor of hummus. Call me crazy, but after 40+ years, old habits (and clogged arteries) are tough to break. Besides, it took me forever to master the art of the seat swap, and I need to keep at the top of my game every few months or so!