Sidewalks

FRIEDMAN RESIGNATION Mayor John Drayman announced the resignation of former Design Review Board member Laura Friedman, a northwest Glendale resident running for a spot on the City Council. The official campaign period started Thursday, the first day for candidates to file nomination papers, and runs until Jan. 29, when the filing period ends. ?Therefore, I am resigning to ensure that there is no perceived conflict between my candidacy and my position on the Design Review Board,?

Steve Iskenderian is a cool customer. The co-owner of Zankou Chicken, which Saturday opened on Glenoaks Boulevard — its seventh site — remains undaunted by a recession that has claimed other businesses and competition from regional eateries. “The cost of food is up everywhere,” he said. “In these hard times, places that offer value are . . . going to be OK, and we’re cheaper.” A steady stream of customers heralded the restaurant’s first day, and Iskenderian hopes the new location will be as profitable as the other sites of the popular franchise.

Roughly 500 seniors from throughout the San Fernando Valley converged Thursday on the farmers market on Brand Boulevard armed with state-issued vouchers to buy fresh produce, creating near gridlock on the sidewalk as vendors worked feverishly to fill orders. The seniors were bused in from throughout the valley as part of an effort to get them to use their vouchers before they expire Nov. 30, as the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Coalition tries to double its state allotment to 2,400 vouchers for the next yearly cycle, which starts in December.

GLENDALE — Officials at the Sidewalk Cafe say operations are returning to normal after the city issued a zoning-use certificate on Monday and returned a portion of the sidewalk to its permitted use following an investigation into alleged improprieties at the northwest Glendale restaurant. “After discussing all the ins and outs on this, we issued them a zoning-use certificate,” Principal Planner Howard Malis said. The certificate, the city’s equivalent of a business license, was signed by Malis on Aug. 6 and issued Monday, officials in Glendale’s building and permit office said.

GLENDALE — The former owner of Sidewalk Cafe, the northwest Glendale restaurant that city officials found to be operating without a required business permit since it opened three years ago, said Monday he is actively working with city officials to bring his former business up to speed. Zereh M. Issakhanian, who first developed the restaurant at 901 W. Glenoaks Blvd. in 2005, met with city officials Thursday from the neighborhood services and attorney’s office in an attempt to resolve the conflict.

GLENDALE — Despite pronouncements from city officials that a northwest Glendale eatery is operating illegally, Sidewalk Cafe has remained open for business as the case has shifted to the city attorney’s office. The litany of complaints against the cafe at 901 W. Glenoaks Blvd. include: operating without a required zoning use certificate, illegally ripping out landscaping and replacing the greenery with a table and chairs and using a nearby house as an adjunct for the establishment’s business operation.

For up-and-coming playwright Colette Freedman, seeing her play “Sister Cities” on stage this month in Burbank has been a thrill. But the icing on the cake is having it entered in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland this summer. The play opens Friday at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre in Burbank. Then the company leaves for Scotland for the festival on July 30 and will return Aug. 30. “It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world,” Freedman said.

I’ve heard Mike Mohill speak at City Council meetings, and I share his concern for dirty sidewalks in Glendale (“Trashy sidewalks represent city badly,” Mailbag, Nov. 16). I know others do too. In fact, Glendale Peace Vigil co-founder and council regular Nancy Kent often picks up trash, including broken beer bottles at Broadway and Brand Boulevard when she gets there to set up for the weekly Friday evening vigils. My husband is part of the Atheists United crew that picks up trash along the Glendale (2)

Go to the Sidewalk Cafe right now. I mean it. Take this newspaper and read it there while you enjoy the food and courteous service. Hip, modern and airy, the Sidewalk Cafe faces the corner of Glenoaks Boulevard and Highland Avenue. Outside are many tables facing both streets for newspaper reading and animated conversations. Inside are dark wood tables, a nook with couches and overstuffed chairs, and many people happily hooked up to the Wi-Fi. The menu is first-rate and fun — sandwiches, salads, pasta and pizza.