Dining Review: Lincoln is worthy of a salute

I have a cookbook that was given to me by a friend. It’s called “Little Flower: Recipes from the Cafe.” Everything I make from it comes out delicious. The recipes look simple but they often have an element begging for the hands of a trained chef. If I make one item out of this book — say a batch of brown butter ginger molasses cookies — I beam with pride and consider my day a success. Now think of an entire cookbook’s worth of output. For dozens, if not hundreds, of people. Everyday. That’s what they do at Lincoln.

One woman behind Lincoln, Christine Moore, is the same one that’s behind Little Flower, the name of both my cookbook and the well-loved cafe on the other side of town. Lincoln is a larger, more ambitious operation in a beautiful, renovated machine shop just off the 210 freeway. The whitewashed, sunlit, high-ceilinged restaurant is impressive enough, especially with that case-full of oven-kissed croissants, pastries, muffins and cookies. But there’s also a lovely outdoor patio lined with herbs, olive and citrus trees in view of the San Gabriel mountains. Across the ample parking lot (and straight out of Silver Lake) is the adorable Lincoln Shop with cool gifts and vintage kids’ stuff. Soon there will be a Little Flower Candy shop and, supposedly, a wine and cheese bar. This compound has definitely upped the cred of a previously ignored stretch of Lincoln Avenue near Woodbury in western Pasadena (though I always thought this was Altadena).

In a perfect world, I would eat at Lincoln every day. That’s how much I love the bowls and plates that come out of the open kitchen. They are healthful, satisfying and have the tangy, salty, earthy, high-protein flavors that I personally love. For instance, the Breakfast Bowl ($10) is everything I didn’t know I’ve always wanted for breakfast. Creamy, white beans are layered with house-made fennel sausage, poached egg, baby kale and arugula, and crunchy fennel bits with a lemon zesty dressing and a slipper of toast. Warm and cool, crunchy and creamy, it tasted great with hot gen mai cha, a nutty green tea, but would be equally tasty with a Stumptown cappuccino from their La Marzocco espresso machine.

Speaking of coffee, the best accompaniment for it is, of course, chocolate cake. Lincoln’s was to die for. Five or six layers of devil’s food with a sea salt caramel vanilla butter cream filing and dark chocolate frosting. Wow.

Back to the savories. The Huevos Rancheros ($10.50) features the same white beans, maybe cannellinis, with green sauce, delicately fried eggs, fresh corn tortillas and cotija cheese. The presence of tiny full-flavored sauteed tomatoes, Italian parsley and cotija as robust as blue cheese, gave the huevos an unusual and delicious crossover Latin-Italian vibe.

Lincoln opens at 6:30 a.m. (8 a.m. on Sundays) so it’s a great choice for breakfast. However they do serve lunch and, of course, sweet snacks well into the afternoon. Try the Yuzu Chicken Salad ($12.50), another layered concoction with poached boneless organic chicken under a chiffonade of cabbages dressed in a tangy vinaigrette that I can’t even begin to deconstruct. It’s fluffy and fun to eat, especially because it’s upside-down with the satisfying protein at the bottom of the salad.

The clientele at Lincoln is Berkeley-meets-Altadena — young, old, married, single, artsy, upright, light-skinned, dark-skinned. Everyone looks completely natural sitting in, at and amid flea-market finds. The noise level is high, what with metal chairs screeching, coffee machines steaming and cooking equipment clanging. But the energy level is high too, making for a cheerful experience. You can always sit out on the quieter patio. On any given morning, you’ll probably see me there with a breakfast bowl and a pot of tea.

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What: Lincoln

Where: 1992 Lincoln Ave., Pasadena

When: Monday through Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Prices: Pastries, $2 to $6; bowls, salads, sandwiches, $10 to $14; coffee, tea, $4

Contact: (626) 765-6746; www.lincolnpasadena.com.
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LISA DUPUY welcomes comments at LDupuy@aol.com.