I was driving through West Los Angeles at 2:00 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, starving to the desperate point of looking for fast food. I despise drive thru’s, but once in a while, you just have to fill up and keep on with your business of the day. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a brick building, the old school kind that fill many small towns in America. Along the side was a huge awning with the word “Clementine”. I thought it looked interesting enough for me to drive around for blocks trying to get to it. When I finally reached my destination, which was not easy, I found parking right in front. People were sitting outside eating on a perfect Spring-like day, so I took my perfect L.A. parking as a sign that I should stop in for lunch. I am so glad that I did!

Clementine turned out to be the kind of food that I love, homemade, seasonal food with ingredients purchased at local farmers markets. The place was bustling inside, even though for most working people, lunch time was over. They serve a great assortment of salads, soups, sandwiches, breakfast all day and sweets. You can see in the photo, most sweets were gone by the time I arrived. They also sell heat at home entrees which looked like healthy comfort food. See the menus on their web site. I had the yummy Winter Spinach Salad with apples, cranberries, walnuts and blue cheese dressing, and a fresh squeezed limeade to drink. You order at the counter and the servers bring your meal to the table, very friendly and quick. I was in lunch heaven! I’m so glad that awning caught my attention. I know the rest of my day was better because instead of fast food, I sat in a cozy environment enjoying fresh food. It reminded me that a few extra minutes are worth the mental and physical benefits of putting good ingredients in the body. Find them at 1751 Ensley Ave. off of Santa Monica Blvd. On the opposite side of Century City mall.