Dining alone - Beauty for the eye and palate

Sometimes you just need to take yourself to lunch - alone.

I had a mid-morning meeting at an office in downtown Santa Monica, and I told my co-workers I'd take lunch before returning to work. And it was a good thing, too, because the meeting gave me a lot to think about. I wanted a quiet place to get my thoughts settled, and hide away for a moment.

Blue Stove is a restaurant in a department store, and if you think that's a throw-back to the era of ladies-who-lunch, you've got a surprise. Blue Stove is Nordstrom's new enterprise - fresh, sustainable, locally sourced food in a casual yet elegant setting.

The Santa Monica store's restaurant is tucked away in a little niche on the third floor. It feels very private - on a lunchtime Thursday, there were a few occupied tables, but I felt soothed and calmed by the quiet. The menu offers small plates at reasonable prices, but never skimps on flavor or artistry. Watermelon and feta salad with microgreens, above, cost only $5.95 - and it was beautiful, in the bargain.