Chef Nick Jacobs and Pastry Chef Renee Faris have built a lively clientele at The Glendon in Westwood, helping to bring this once bustling neighborhood back to a festive community scene. The food is top-notch, the service is friendly, and the atmosphere puts a smile on your face. (photo courtesy of Jill Weinlein)

It’s a great “boy meets girl” story. The boy is Nick Jacobs, a graduate from Beverly Hills high school and the Institute of Culinary Education in New York.  After working with some of the top chefs learning the best “tricks of the trade,” he grew tired of the traffic and snow in New York and moved back to sunny California.  One day he met his future business partner, Adrian Sully, and was offered an opportunity to open a restaurant/bar near UCLA.

The girl is a pastry school comrade, Renee Faris, one of the stars on TLC Cake Boss and winner of the prestigious Ultimate Cake Challenge. Jacobs invited her on the social media site, Facebook, to leave New Jersey and move to Los Angeles to be his pastry chef. She bought a plane ticket, found a place in Venice to rest her head, and whips up divine desserts daily at The Glendon Bar & Kitchen.

For those of you who remember Westwood in the early 80s, it was a destination where people from all over the world visited for dinner, drinks, music and a movie.  When the Third Street Promenade opened, it lured people closer to the beach.  As I drove to The Glendon Bar & Kitchen, I noticed the transformation of the street.  Retail is on the ground floor and housing is above.  It has a festive community feel.

I met a friend at The Glendon for lunch. We shared a latte colored homemade pretzel served with a honey Dijon dipping sauce.  Next, a plate of California crab cakes arrived with a tasty avocado citrus purée and mixed greens.

Award-winning Pastry Chef Renee Faris created a black cherry bourbon bread pudding, cheesecake with blackberries, flourless chocolate cake and apple cobbler with currants -- all delicious, and the perfect ending to dinner at The Glendon. (photo by Jill Weinlein)

For my entrée I enjoyed the Protein Duo with one scoop of curry chicken waldorf and another of scrumptious tuna salad served on a bed of mixed greens marinated in sweet onion balsamic vinaigrette.

Renee’s flourless chocolate cake topped with a rich chocolate ganache and served with mint-macerated strawberries and whipped cream was heavenly.

For theatre patrons, The Glendon is an ideal spot for a light Happy Hour dinner.  Served from 4:00-7:00pm, all well drinks are just $5 and selected martinis $5 all day, every day.  Everything on the bar menu is 50 percent off.  California crab cakes are $6; Glendon sliders topped with caramelized onions and horseradish sauce are $5.  After the theatre, the Happy Hour resumes from 10:00pm-midnight offering the same value specials.

I returned on a Friday night to find the restaurant packed with happy patrons. The bar was filled with handsome young men and women in business attire, and UCLA graduates enjoying a drink or two to celebrate the weekend. The vibe is friendly.

Looking at the bar menu, I chuckled at the wine by the glass section on the back of the menu. For your first date, the wines are $8 a glass.  Second date wines are $10 and third date (lucky you) wines are $12 a glass.

The Glendon Bar & Kitchen is a great place for another boy meets girl story to develop. Come in for dinner and order the coffee crusted seared ahi, or the ugly goat pizza. They’re both inventive and tasty. They also feature a filet mignon with mushroom bernaise sauce, and a grilled salmon, among other entrees. The pizzas are 14” – so be sure to take a date and share. It’s a fun place!

The Glendon Bar & Kitchen, 1071 Glendon Ave., (310)208-2023.