Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 30, 2010

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com

GOOD FOOD & DRINK

8

Mountain Views News Saturday, October 30, 2010

Eat Well!


All Aboard at LGO’s Luggage Room

 
Being the creator and co-presenter of the Great 
Pizza Cook-Off in Pasadena for 12 years endures 
as some of my favorite times. Restaurants from 
around California would converge on Pasadena 
to showcase their tantalizing pies to judges and 
spectators alike. The event flourished, and in fact 
my vanity license plate 
self-proclaimed me, “The 
Pizza Czar”. It was the 
perfect kingdom of which 
to dream. Although, the 
event is many years in 
the past, my devotion for 
pizza is a first love. 

 Many of you have 
calendars to reminder you of holidays, birthdays 
and meetings. Restaurant writers have unusual 
calendars for National Food weeks and months. 
If you get on Santa’s bad list, you may just get one 
of these peculiar calendars for Christmas. Guess 
what the National Food for October is? Times 
up.

Pizza!

 If you got that one right you may keep reading. 
If you missed that answer, you need to go back 
and start at the beginning of the article.

 Those memories, in fact, are why I have 
wanted to write this article on the new Luggage 
Room for weeks. 

 When I got the announcement, from Bob 
Lynn about his new pizza concept, I just couldn’t 
wait. Bob is a restaurant genius. He started with 
Houston’s Restaurant years ago and opened the 
popular La Grande Orange three years ago. Here 
is an excerpt from a column that I did years ago.

 “Do you ever go to a place and have such a 
wonderful experience, that it reminds you of that 
great date which you can’t get out of your mind? 
I am starting to believe that the Park in the 
middle of Pasadena, known as Central Park has 
some spell over me. You may be thinking, what 
is Peter talking about this week? Before you call 
for the padded car, let me explain. Yes, I do feel 
comfortable on this couch if that is what you are 
thinking. It happens to be that two of my favorite 
restaurants are both next to Central Park in 
Pasadena. Central Park Restaurant is one of my 
favorites and the new Le Grande Orange (LGO) 
on the other side of the park is like a perfect 
bookend. This is just too good to be true!!”

 The Luggage Room is an annex to the LGO 
Bar in the middle with an enormous open 
kitchen on the East side of the room. The star 
is the Wood Fire Pizza Oven making pizza at 
a perfect 700º degrees, 700º yep - I confirmed 
with chef Jorge Gomez. The menu is selective, 
offering appetizers/salads and pizzas. I love the 
minimalist approach. I brought a number of 
friends along to make sure that I had a thorough 
viewing of the menu. We grazed on what I feel is 
the highlight of the starter menu, bacon wrapped 
dates ($9) and a pleasing portion of olive-oiled 
poached tuna ($11).

 We were here for the pizza and sampled many. 
Margherita Pizza ($11). Haas Avocado Festival 
($12) - brilliantly named and truly an Avocado 
Feast!! The Mother Earth ($13) with plenty of 
olives, artichokes, roasted peppers. My favorite 
pizza of the night was The Gladiator ($14) 
with decorated with spicy Italian sausage and 
salumeria billese pepperoni. 

 When I return, that will be my choice along 
with a full glass of red wine. I’m so glad I 
brought my knowledgeable wine friends along, 
because they knew that Prisoner, a full-bodied 
red that resembles a liquid wine brownie, is the 
consummate coupling for pizza and it was truly 
a smashing hit.

 LGO’s Luggage Annex was a great experience 
for me, and I noticed that many of the other 
customers were also leisurely enjoying their pizza 
and sipping wine, with no immediate intention 
of departing this slice of Heaven. Check it out 
before a movie, or a first date.

 The Luggage Room, Pasadena’s Historic 
Del Mar Train Station. 260 S. Raymond Ave., 
Pasadena, (626) 356-4440.

Email me your thoughts at thechefknows@yahoo.
com. Listen every Saturday night KABC Radio 9 
PM

THE CHEF KNOWS


Cafe322 - 322 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. - Sierra Madre, CA 91024 
- Phone (626) 836-5414 Fax: (626) 836-5787 

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