REVIEW: Smiley's Bakery and Cafe

Open the door of Smiley's Bakery and Cafe and a blast of fresh-baked bread hits you - not the bready smell of most bakeries, but the real, sweet, warm smell you usually get only when you bake bread in your own kitchen.

It only gets better from there.

This tiny bakery, cooked up by Amy Graham, who years ago owned Amy's Bakery and Cafe on the west side, is packed with delicious, homemade goodies that rise above the pastry pack. Plates of cookies, muffins and brownies crowd the modest glass case at the counter. Fresh pies cool on pedestals above. The smell of fresh bread battles the smell of good coffee. The cafe itself, speckled with mismatched chairs and tables, rusted tin pie plates tacked to the wall, and a shelf of children's books is so sweet and homey that it almost feels like confection.

I didn't quite get the bakery's name until I was greeted at the counter on an early morning by Graham, whose smile is as sweet and genuine as her strawberry rhubarb pie.

"I just like to make people happy," she said recently, taking a break from baking. "When you make them good food and give them a nice place to hang out, it just makes my day."

That first visit was for breakfast, and it left us dying to come back for lunch.

The French toast ($4.95) was bolstered by a robust, crusty white bread (homemade, of course) with a few sesame seeds sprinkled on the crust. It was perfect - somehow dancing between airy levity and custardy richness. I'm kind of bummed that Graham doesn't offer real maple syrup for a surcharge, but real syrup is so rare anywhere in this town she can hardly be faulted.

Other breakfast choices are just as good. A delicate cinnamon twist ($1.95) slaked in sugar was so light and flaky that it practically dissolved on the tongue.

In a world where muffins tend to be dense, doughy and bland, Smiley's cranberry walnut version ($1.95) was packed with fresh berries and huge chunks of nut suspended in a lovely cornmeal concoction.

It's a good place to linger over coffee, baked goods and the newspaper. The music wanders between scratchy old Edith Piaf and scratchy new John-Alex Mason. There is free Wi-Fi and an effortlessly hip atmosphere that led my wife to say, "You know, this is basically a breakfast version of Shuga's."

For lunch Smiley's offers a daily special ($8.95) - items such as blackened salmon, sautéed chicken in peach sauce over couscous, and sandwiches - and homemade soups and salads. While nothing we had at lunch was bad, it lacked the excitement of the breakfasts and baked goods, and I found myself eager to get through it so I could have dessert.

The sandwiches are made to order. All come on that wonderful bread, but a roast beef, mustard, lettuce and tomato combo that I tried felt dull for the price. The cafe might do well to add a few of its own creative combinations.

Soups ($3.95), too, can be dull. A cup of ham, mushroom and potato soup lacked the strong flavors of either ham or mushroom. I spoke with a number of folks on the way out who raved about the soup-salad combo, which comes with a terrific homemade roll.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that baked goods are the reason to smile here.

Fortunately, there was dessert.

Graham makes peaches and cream pie. She makes blackberry and sour cream pie. She makes blueberry pie. She makes rhubarb pie.

Everything starts with real, whole fruit.

"It's real simple," said Graham. "We make it from scratch. Nothing fancy. But that's why it's good."

Apple pie in a rich, flaky, handmade crust had none of that cornstarch and corn syrup goo that oozes out of most restaurant pies. It was just hand-sliced, tart Granny Smiths tossed with a touch of sugar and a mess of cinnamon. Pie slices are $3.95.

Sometimes service, which relies on a small staff plucked primarily from Graham's four daughters, can be slow or forgetful. The side of bacon I ordered with my French toast never came.

The inventory is hard to gauge. Cookies and pies come and go. If you see a sweet you want in the case, buy it because it may not be available the next time you visit.

Pies can be gobbled up in a flash, and Graham has the cruel habit of leaving each pie's placard in the display case. So even though the last slice of blackberry might have been gobbled up an hour before, a tiny sign reminds you that, had you been quicker, you might have had a chance.

But the inconsistencies are overshadowed by the consistently good food and atmosphere.

Instead of blackberry, I had a piece of blueberry with not-too-sweet, bright berries in a flaky, rich crust; it was probably the best pie I've ever had.


Smiley's Bakery and Cafe
**** (The breakfast version of Shuga's)

Address: 323 N. Tejon St.
Contact: 328-9447
Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays.
Entrees: $3.95-$8.95
Vegetarian: Plenty
Alcohol: No
Plastic: Yes