Mimosa, Bellini and White Sangria

Brunch for dinner? What a concept! I decided to give it a whirl and waltzed into La Grande Orange Café in the restored historic Santa Fe Train Depot. (Alas you will have to eat brunch during brunch hours, but I’ve been told the restaurant is planning to add a few brunch dishes to their dinner menu).

My companion always waxes nostalgic when we go to this restaurant – he cherishes boyhood memories of climbing aboard the Superchief train there and is impressed with the way “LGO” has restored the depot to its former splendor. (I’ve just learned that another one of their great restaurants will be opening this month in Santa Monica for those of you on the West Side.)

Cinnamon Rolls

They had a nice selection of brunch cocktails: Mimosa, bellini, Bloody Mary or white sangria. The bellini won out and so did the white sangria for round two (don’t worry I wasn’t driving!). Both were light and refreshing. I loved the apple slices and fruit in the sangria.

To start with, La Grande Orange creates one of the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever tasted, not like so many others that are heavy with yeast dough and sickly sweet. LGO’s were flakey, almost like a puff pastry with just enough gooey goodness in the roll to make strings of syrup, but not so much that it made your teeth hurt.

I also tried their signature deviled eggs (makes sense; eggs=breakfast). I’m a very picky person when it comes to deviled eggs (I like mine and that’s about all) but these were really good, a bit sweet/a bit tangy. They were served with a side of bacon bits so you could choose to sprinkle or not to sprinkle.

Huevos Rancheros

A malted buttermilk waffle was next. If you’ve ever been to Texas you’ll know all about malted waffles. They seem to brown a most golden color and the touch of malt adds a sweet and nutty flavor to an ordinary waffle. They were served with organic yogurt, fresh fruit and real maple syrup.

I have found that eggs benedict are either very good or very bad, there seems to be no in between. La Grande Orange’s eggs benedict rank in the very good category. One of the things that makes them special is the housemade English Muffin that supports the black forest ham, sautéed spinach and the rich and nutty whole grain mustard hollandaise. Eggs, ham, mustard and spinach – what could be better?

A thick, pillowy, made-to-order corn tortilla forms the base of the huevos rancheros. This corn tortilla is made more like a gordita and topped with cheese and chilies that are quickly melted. Finished off with organic eggs, a to-die-for ranchero sauce and fresh guacamole; I say Olé!

A nibble of lemon ricotta hotcakes proved them to be tart and lighter than air. They were topped of with a blueberry sauce which combined with maple syrup made these hotcakes to-die-for good.

The café also offers an egg white omelet with turkey and tomato-avocado salsa for the health conscious and for those of us who like our brunch in a sandwich á la Egg McMuffin®, they offer a commuter sandwich on their housemade English muffins with a choice of bacon, ham, turkey or avocado and topped of with scrambled eggs and tomato.

La Grande Orange Café serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. They are located at 260 S. Raymond in the Historic Santa Fe Train Depot. For reservations and more information call (626) 356-4444 or log onto www.logostationcafe.com.