A down home kind of place

Proprietors Francesca Tashjian, 44, and Teresa Lindhartsen, 42, originally worked at the Redwood Café and Spice Company as assistant managers and waitresses. They liked the down-home feeling the restaurant created, but felt if they teamed together and branched out on their own they might be able to do one better.

The inspiration for Alana's, besides Redwood Café, was drawn in part from dining experiences the two had in San Francisco's North Beach. The enjoyment of a fine meal in a small café was something they felt they could recreate locally.

Alana's Café opened on Burlingame Avenue in September of 1993 and quickly became a hit with locals. The business is successful to this day, often generating a close to full house in the tight, intimate space most mornings and creating a line out the door on weekends.

One look at the clientele drawn to Alana's tells a thousand stories of the different segments of society which dine here. Contractors, construction workers and mothers with children-laden strollers rub shoulders with stock brokers and CEOs from nearby Hillsborough.

Tashjian and Lindhartsen described the food which keeps bringing regulars and new people back as "gourmet comfort food." The items they serve, while not overly expensive, are of the highest quality and purchased from mainly small businesses with a similar ethic of providing the best ingredients.

While the two women mind the front of the restaurant and keep the day-to-day flow going, the man in the open-air kitchen is Benjamin Prieto. Prieto has been with Alana's Café since early 1995 and developed most of the recipes himself. He also handles the training of those who cook in the kitchens.

Prieto created most of the recipes found in two cookbooks Alana's Café put together to benefit local charities. One book focuses on side salads, while the other serves up ideas for great soups.

Both locations share the same breakfast, lunch and dinner menus (the Redwood City serves breakfast and lunch only at this point, though it is available for private parties in the evening). Highlights for the morning dining crowd include Swedish Oatmeal Pancakes served with one of three side fruits, a Farmer's Garden egg special with cheese and scallions and an all-spice cake with a crumbly walnut topping.

Diners later in the day can look forward to things like homemade quiches, rotating house soup specials and a vegetarian burger served with roasted red pepper aioli. The Burlingame location, which starts its dinner menu at 5 p.m., conjures up plates topped with dishes such as meatloaf covered with homemade gravy, grilled portobello mushroom filled with several types of veggies and cheese and a ginger orange pork broiled and brushed with a spicy orange peanut sauce.

One thing which makes the overall menus at Alana's a standout is their consistency. Few items have changed on them over the years, Lindhartsen said, due to shared popularity.

The ambiance of the two locations, like the food, speaks volumes of why Alana's is so popular. The Burlingame location, narrow and deep, provides 11 tables and 15 counter seats in a setting best described as French Country. The restored Victorian of the Redwood City spot, by contrast, provides four separate dining areas as well as a lush outdoor garden.

In the French Country Burlingame locale, one self-described regular is Dave Cesare. A contractor by trade, Cesare frequents the café multiple times each week.

"The draw is the food and people," said Cesare. "Everybody gets to know you and treats you great. It's a very easy place to become family."

Cesare's opinion was shared by Robert Pellegrini, a semi-regular and wine maker from Sonoma County who splits his time between locations. He described Alana's as his favorite breakfast place when he is in town.

These are the types of comments Tashjian and Lindhartsen like to hear as they make their daily rounds. As they described their restaurant, customers regularly passed by and greeted them by name.

Tashjian perhaps best summarized Alana's by describing a conversation she once had with an old friend. In it, the friend described a "triangle of life" which consists of home, work and some other place.

"We like to think Alana's is that third place," she said.

Apple Apricot Waldorf

3 green apples, cored and diced into one inch pieces

1 red apple, cored and diced into one inch pieces

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

_ cup dried apricots, julienned

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

3 tablespoons walnuts

2 tablespoons bleu cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine apples and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add rosemary and apricots. Toast walnuts on cookie sheet for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool and chop. Add mayo and bleu cheese. Add walnuts just before serving. Salt and pepper to taste.

From Alana's Café: Side Salads