Friday dinner is a real recession-fighter
You can’t go wrong with a seat at ‘Anne’s Table
by LEN LEAR

A tilapia entrée on a bed of fresh spinach, topped with crabmeat and baked in a lemon cream sauce (right) and an herb-marinated thin-sliced grilled London broil, topped with a red wine and three-mushroom sauce (both entrees served with mashed potatoes and veggies), were just $15.95 a piece at Anne’s, which included a bowl of homemade soup or salad. (Photo by Len Lear)

More than a year ago, Local editor Pete Mazzaccaro, a resident of Glenside, told me about Anne’s Kitchen Table, a charming luncheonette (primarily) at 11 Wesley Plaza, just off Easton Road, one block past Waverly Road. “You really should go there and do an article,” he said. “The food is very good, the owners are really nice, and I’m sure some of our readers would enjoy it.”

Pete proceeded to give me a business card for Anne’s, which I put in my wallet. Unfortunately, my wallet is the pocket-sized version of the Bermuda Triangle. Over the years, I have put numerous cards into my wallet from Omaha Steaks and Metropolitan Bakery — the kind you get punched after each purchase, and after 10 purchases you get one item free — but after four or five purchases, the cards always seem to disappear. If I had all of the free loaves of bread and steaks I have been entitled to (but never redeemed) because of all my purchases over the last decade or so, I could open my own grocery store where Caruso’s used to be.

In any event, gentle reader, Anne’s card vanished, as expected, from my wallet. However, on March 26 a Local reader named Monica Harrower, who formerly lived in Mt. Airy but now lives in Glenside with her husband and son, sent me an email urging me to do an article on Anne’s Kitchen Table. She wrote in part, “I do not work there and do not know the owners or employees, but I have eaten lunch there several times and have always had a good meal. Given the economy, I think it’s more important than ever to support small, local businesses.”

Fortunately, it’s harder for me (but not impossible) to lose an email than a card in my wallet, so this time I figured I better follow it up quickly. So I proceeded to meet Monica for lunch at Anne’s on the last day in April, and I quickly learned why its customers become evangelists, preaching about Anne’s virtues to the uncommitted or the unknowing.

Anne Arian and her husband, Tom Wasyluka, have been running food businesses in the area for 10 years.

First of all, there’s Anne herself. Anne Arian, 59 (“and proud of it”), was born in Oxford Circle and raised in Plymouth Meeting, where she attended Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. (Anne says her last name, Arian, “goes all the way back to the tribes of Israel.”) After graduation from Lock Haven University, Anne worked for years preparing food for supermarkets, catering firms, gourmet takeout operations, etc.

“Finally,” she said, “I decided that both my husband and I had been working our little butts off (they’re not so little anymore) for many years to make money for other people, and it was about time we made it for ourselves. Little did I know then that with our own business, we would make even less money, but at least now we get a lot of personal satisfaction — and after all, I get to eat for free.”

Ten years ago, Anne and her husband, Tom Wasyluka, plunged into small business ownership (and lifelong debt) by opening a commissary in Elkins Park and after one year moving to another Elkins Park location, doing mostly takeout and delivery for four more years. Then Anne and Tom moved the operation in 2004 to their current location in Glenside, a couple blocks past Produce Junction and about 10 minutes from Chestnut Hill.

Anne’s seats about 20 people indoors and 20 more outdoors. They serve up homemade soups, salads, dressings, sandwiches, panini pastries and a down-home ambience. “Eating here is like being at home,” said Anne, “maybe even better than being at home if all you have in your frig is leftover pizza from the football game and a can of cat food.”

The outdoor tables at Anne’s Kitchen Table fill up quickly on warm-weather days. (Photo by Len Lear)

Anne’s opens at 9 a.m. for coffee and homemade scones, but their main emphasis is lunch. They close at 4 p.m. except for Friday, when they offer dinner selections from 5 to 8 p.m. — soup or salad and entrée — for about $15 to $17. “You can feel free to bring a bottle of wine,” said Anne, “but you have to share it with the chef ... just kidding ... We also are happy to deliver to nearby locations like Glenside and Wyncote. We can negotiate if you are farther than that, but you better have good trinkets and a few horses to barter with.”

The lunch menu has loads of sandwiches, wraps and salads, all under $9. For example, there is the Buffalo chicken salad, a tossed salad topped with grilled chicken, blue cheese crumbles, tomato, cucumber and spicy Buffalo blue cheese dressing ($8.25). “There are no bones in it,” said Anne, “unless the salad maker loses a finger.” Or ‘Whistle a tuna’ wrap with tuna salad, provolone, lettuce, cucumbers and roasted peppers ($7.25). “If you order this one,” said Anne, “you can eat a Whistle while you work.”

I thoroughly enjoyed a special, Southwest chicken Caesar salad, which had a huge amount of diced grilled chicken breast pieces, Jack cheese, diced tomato, black beans and sweet corn, all tossed Caesar-style in a chipolte lime dressing and served with tortilla slices ($8.75). Delicious.

There are also specials every day. Anne may add some amusing comments to the “specials” menu “if I’ve had some Scotch.” For example, the day we had lunch, the first special was ‘Zorba the burger’ with the comment, “This is a really great change from, well, whatever else you’ve been eating for lunch.”

A number of people from other communities have suggested that Anne open more Anne’s Kitchen Tables in other locations. “I’d be too nervous about not being there in person and always wondering what’s happening,” she explained. “If we had opened this place 10 years earlier, I might have the energy to open a second one, but this is quite enough. I am satisfied because I have a great bunch of workers and of group of loyal, steady customers ... And I have to give a lot of credit to my husband. He does all the books, washes all the dishes and does so much more. I could not possibly do this without him. I’d also like to praise Jess Edwardson, our manager and server, who is a great asset.”

Has the disastrous economy had an effect on Anne’s? “Absolutely none,” said the co-owner/chef. “Look at the prices we charge. If anything, our customer base has been growing as customers tell their friends about us.”

As we were finishing up lunch, I spotted Alena Hackett, 28, owner of Zipf’s Chocolates at 8433-B Germantown Ave., who was having lunch with her father. “My dad comes here three times a week,” she said. “This place is the greatest.”

My wife and I also returned for dinner on Friday, May 15, which was a beautiful night for outdoor dining. (By 8:15 p.m., every table was occupied, and Tom had to bring out an extra table to accommodate more customers.) My wife had a bowl of creamy asparagus and crab soup, and I had a bowl of tomato and vegetable soup. Both obviously homemade and delicious.

I had a tilapia entrée on a bed of fresh spinach, topped with crabmeat and baked in a lemon cream sauce, served with mashed potatoes and colorful veggie strips. My wife had herb-marinated thin-sliced grilled London broil, topped with a red wine and three-mushroom sauce, served with mashed potatoes and veggie. Only $15.95 for each two-course dinner with ample leftovers for further noshing. What a deal!

Anne’s also offers on-premises accommodations for private parties of up to 20 guests, and they cater off-premises meetings, baby showers, bridal showers, birthday parties, engagements and divorce. “Hey, some people celebrate divorce,” said Anne.

For more information, call 215-576-1274 or visit www.anneskitchentable.com