Midtown Lunch

As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Felicia, a farmer’s market fanatic who works pretty far East, but lives in Highland Park.

Name: Felicia Friesema

Age: 38

Occupation: By day, spokesperson for a public transportation agency. By night, farmers market columnist for the LA Weekly’s food blog, Squid Ink.

Where in L.A. do you Work?: West Covina, CA

Favorite Kind of Food: In LA, I cannot have one favorite food. Depends on my mood and what’s available. Today it might be Palak Paneer with plain naan and raita from Delhi Palace in La Puente.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: This actually makes me sad. I want to love it because it has so much great tradition behind it. But I’ve never been able to eat Ethiopian cuisine. Every time I’ve tried, the spice has been uncomfortably overwhelming. I adore injera, though.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: It’s been somewhat difficult to find good lunch options out here that aren’t gigantic chain food factories. But there are a few gems. One World Café on Glendora Ave. has some great vegan options, including their “B.B.Q. Drumsticks”, which is actually gluten wrapped around a stick of sugar cane, fried, and then sauced, and their “Passionate Tofu” served over brown rice. Anna’s Pizza on West Covina Parkway makes some of the best pizza in LA. Love the carnitas at Bronco’s in Hong Kong Plaza on Glendora. And then Claro’s over on East College St. in Covina for their prosciutto sandwich with everything. There’s also 1+1 Dumpling House, Anjo Japanese, and Fonda Don Chon. I live over in Hermon, next to Highland Park, and my go-to neighborhood places are Good Girl Dinette (110 N Ave 56), The York (5018 York Blvd), Schodorf’s Luncheonette (5051 York Blvd), and Café de Leche (5000 York Blvd.)  Folliero’s (5566 N Figueroa St), too, though I often forget that they are cash-only, which leads to pizza pout.

The “goto” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often? Elephant Bar – because it is literally across the street. We’ve taken to calling it the cafeteria.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Tibet Nepal House in Pasadena.

The farthest place you’ll drive for lunch on a normal day? When at work: I’ll drive anywhere within a 10 mile radius. Walking is a little trickier as I’m usually in heels. At home: Highland Park, Eagle Rock, South Pas, and Pas.

Dream job location (anywhere in the world), purely for lunch purposes, and why?Mexico City, Amsterdam, or Paris. All for the same reason – they are hubs for their country’s cuisines and they attract multicultural populations that bring their own food cultures with them. They inevitably blend and create wonderful hybrid foods and traditions. As an LA native, I find this is essential for my own food happiness.

Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? If there’s a farmers market near your work, do you shop there midweek?

Got an answer for Felicia, put it in the comments. And, as always, if you want to be next week’s Profiled: L.A. Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d want to nominate), email me- zach@midtownlunch.com.