DINING OUT:Fresh is the word at Rosemary

Walking into Rosemary Café, I was greeted by the smell of fresh baked muffins. What better way to whet your appetite?

Rosemary Café is located on the outer edge of The Exchange (they validate parking) in Glendale halfway down the block on Wilson Avenue between Brand Boulevard and Maryland Avenue.

It's warm and simple, with natural wood counters and tables, and for the size of the place, it doesn't feel cluttered. The tables are set to seat three, so my party of four sat at the counter against the window to watch the people go by. The owner, friendly and quiet, welcomed us with a smile and a bow and handed us menus.

For fun on a hot day, we all tried different specialty drinks. My 12-year-old got a fresh strawberry smoothie ($4.50) that she called, "sweet and smooth, very strawberry and very icy." My mother a got a creamy and chocolaty iced café mocha ($3.25) and my son got an espresso mocha freeze, ($3.50) which was no stronger than any blended mocha drink and was very refreshing. I tried a regular organic Givalia coffee ($1.30 for a small) that was strong but not bitter.

I had thought of trying a breakfast sandwich or breakfast quesadilla ($8.95), but lunch had too many things to choose from.

One special for the day was a grilled chicken Dijon sandwich ($9.95) and a menu special is a Portobello mushroom sandwich ($8.95), but we decided to try a rosemary chicken sandwich with roasted pepper, provolone cheese and the special house spread ($6.95), which was mild and tasty.

The Chinese chicken salad ($8.95) had fresh grilled chicken marinated in Asian spices, mixed greens with water chestnuts, toasted almonds, mandarin oranges tossed in a house vinaigrette dressing. It was crunchy and delicious.

We tried the Greek salad ($8.95) without the chicken or tuna, and my daughter ate the sun-dried tomato, red onions, bell peppers, olives and Feta Cheese. Her first reaction was, "Cheesy. I like cheesy."

The biggest hit, however, was the turkey wrap — turkey, lettuce, tomato, ranch dressing and sweet grilled onions and bell peppers wrapped neatly in a tomato tortilla ($7.95). Everything was fresh tasting. A delightful dining experience for someone needing a quick, but not heavy, lunch. It's also a great place to just run in for a coffee and a sweet and moist muffin. The raspberry muffin was a treat.

Sandwiches and wraps come with a small house salad. Rosemary also has Hardbite potato chips ($1.35) from Canada, several smoothies, tea ($1.50 to $2.75), orange juice vanilla freeze ($3.15) and a variety of healthy and fun bottled drinks.

The motto on the menu is "Joyful Eating/ Healthy and Delicious." And getting fresh, firm, choc-full of chocolate chunks cookies (75 cents) on our way out the door ensured that.