WHY Breakfast croissants that are the best for many miles, and fab lunchtime sandwiches: egg salad, chicken salad and an amazing BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato). Excellent coffee, too.

WHAT Sumi Chang’s extraordinary bakeries are also swell places for breakfast and lunch, especially the new location, with its huge pecan communal table and large patio; the original location (950 E. Colorado Blvd., 626.577.1828) is more utilitarian. The new place has a larger selection of baked goods, including more whole wheat breads, and after first trying to go its own way, menu-wise, it now has some of the same dishes as the original, including the legendary egg salad sandwich.

WHO Pasadena’s intelligentsia read their New Yorkers at café tables over pains aux chocolats or lunchtime sandwiches.

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