My neighborhood restaurant is 18 miles away. The way I see it, being neighborly isn't a matter of distance, but of attitude. And there's no restaurant near my home with the attitude I find at the South Lake Italian Restaurant in Pasadena.
Eating there is like joining an extended family. Strangers are introduced; drop-ins share tables, and the blonde with a pony tail who chats with everybody is Donna Starr, the owner.
This eight-year-old restaurant in the heart of the Lake Avenue shopping district is small, cozy, intimate and very personal. The basset hound whose portraits line one wall is Donna's dog, Blossom, who attracts a throng of admirers to her birthday celebration at the restaurant each December.
While the atmosphere and cordiality are big attractions, the food is good too, mostly pasta and pizzas. I can't speak for all of it because I'm a one-dish person. I only order the California chicken nut pizza, although the lasagna sitting on the next table the other night looked so good I might violate this tradition next time.
At any rate, the pizza is my favorite--a thin crust brushed with olive oil, then topped with barbecued chicken, pine nuts, avocado, mushrooms, sliced zucchini and a light layer of mozzarella cheese.
That and a glass of Merlot is enough for me.
The scary news is that Donna might lose her lease. If that happens, she'll move the restaurant elsewhere. And wherever she goes, that will be my new neighborhood.
South Lake Italian Kitchen, 524 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena, Calif. 91101. Tel: (626) 792-5984. Open Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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