The Main course 10-4
Anne’s Kitchen Table
Rating: 
I recently came upon one in Glenside, charmingly called, Anne’s Kitchen Table restaurant. It’s tucked away in a storefront just off Glenside’s main thoroughfare. Seating a mere 22 inside, and another 20 at umbrella tables on the wide, brick sidewalk outside, during prime lunch and dinner hours, Anne’s Kitchen will fill quickly with devoted regulars.
Indeed, on the Friday evening I visited for dinner, all the sidewalk umbrella tables filled up early. When I expressed my surprise, owner/chef Anne Arian, the little restaurant’s heart and soul, told me this was typical. Looking around, she noted that they were all her Friday-night regulars.
I had two lunches and one dinner in the span of a single week at Anne’s Kitchen. It gave me the opportunity to sample a variety of its daily offerings, at refreshingly low prices.
Soup lovers have found a home here. Anne makes three homemade soups daily — the four we tried were delicious: poblano corn chowder, spicy gazpacho, creamy sherried spinach and Italian wedding soup. The latter, which I had twice, was the best of this popular standby I have had anywhere. It had rich, succulent meatballs, orzo pasta and spinach.
Anne’s fans also come for the many interesting salads, wraps and paninis served in a variety of Le Bus breads.
I don’t generally like wraps, but on a hunch, I chose “The French Connection” ($7.25) for lunch. It’s a wrap generously filled with roast beef (or turkey), tomato, French brie and Dijonaisse, and served with quality, kettle-cooked chips and a watermelon wedge. I was glad I did.
The wrap was grilled in the panini grill, as are all the grilled sandwiches, freshening and crisping the flour dough wrapping, melting the brie and bringing the roast beef to life. A Boylan’s creamy birch beer made the perfect beverage accompaniment.
My L.D.C. (Lovely Dining Companion) had the large and lovely Anne’s House Salad ($8.25), an excellent tossed salad of mixed greens, cucumber, carrots, broccoli, tomato and olives, wonderfully topped with scoops of creamy goat cheese, candied walnuts, dried fruits and homemade croutons, served with Anne’s sweet and non-vinegary balsamic dressing.
Her drink choice was unsweetened iced tea from the self-serve tea and lemonade bar. On our dinner visit, three dinner specials ($15 or $16, served with soup or salad) were added to the menu.
I gave one a try — a large filet of sesame-batter-crusted tilapia on mixed greens and Asian noodles with Asian soy vinaigrette. The filet was a little dry, so at my request, Anne whipped up some tartar sauce for me. This is the kind of flexible treatment within limits you can expect here.
The other two entrées of the day were roast pork loin and baked chicken with braised fennel and rosemary.
My L.D.C. enjoyed the drippy, but delicious, Tom’s Grill grilled, a turkey sandwich with bacon, cheddar and Russian dressing on Jewish rye.
Sorry, we did not try the homemade raspberry pecan blondie with ice cream for dessert. Given Anne’s culinary prowess, we probably missed a real treat.
Overall Rating: mmmm (out of 5 m’s) home-away-from-home dining at low prices. To contact Mitch Davis, you can e-mail him at: MdavisMainCourse@aol.com
Anne’s Kitchen Table Location: 11 Wesley Plaza, Glenside Phone Number:215-576-1274 Cuisine: Home-style American Ambience: Great cafe vibe Hours: Monday and Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Closed Sunday Prices: Appetizers, soups: $2.75 to $3.50; Salads: $6 to $8.25; Sandwiches: $6.75 to $7.25 Alcoholic Beverages: B.Y.O.B. Web site: www.anneskitchentable.com
