GRAB A TRAY AND ENJOY.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

It's a scintillating food environment that kick-starts the palate juices immediately upon entry.

The Corner Bakery, a chain of contemporary cafeterias for yuppie foodies, has landed in L.A. County in the dramatic new Calabasas shopping and munching complex called the Commons.

One cannot help getting hungry as the food-as-theater scene unfolds with one sweeping gaze.

Incoming customers are directed to pick up trays and pass in front of an array of display cases and food stations containing plates, bowls and trays of cold and hot foods, ready to eat or needing just a quick heat-up.

The entire arrangement is set for full viewing and includes a wall of shelves holding assorted rounded loaves and a variety of baguettes that adds a distinctively textured food-art form of its own.

And the spectacular array is smartly priced, offering teeny two-bite sandwiches for $1.95 each (turkey, chicken salad or bacon-lettuce-tomato), small soups at $2.95, several small salads and a number of little plates under $3 each.

But just like the cafeterias of yesteryear, the eye takes over, resistance yields, and before you know it you've ordered more than you intended. No great savings here.

But truthfully, for your money you're likely to end up with more tastes, even if they're small ones, and consequently a more adventurous food experience.

Soups tried have been a respectable Italian vegetable, an average black bean and a good tomato-bread soup. They are served with a thin-sliced toast-crust.

Several nicely executed salads of baby greens, Caesar-style, different vegetables, cold pasta or potato mixtures are displayed daily with minimally portioned offerings as low as $2.50 and larger servings up to $5.95.

Sandwiches are the big thing here. They are the obvious stars because, after all, this is a bakery, and it presents the opportunity to showcase the breads.

Pretzel ficelle loaves, for example, are utilized for one of the train sandwiches, a tasty combination of applewood-smoked ham, sliced plum tomato, havarti caraway cheese, red onion and a few daubs of stone-ground mustard-mayonnaise ($3.25).

The country bread provides the slices for a satisfying chicken pomodori grilled sandwich ($4.50) called panini, holding roasted chicken, oven-roasted tomato, basil, spinach and provolone cheese, and spread with herbed butter.

This actually seemed as substantial as a thinnish roasted lamb sandwich ($6.25) on olive bread.

The breads, incidentally, are certainly superior quality, better than the Corner Bakery's thin, deep-pan pizzas made with a cakey dough and skimmed mozzarella.

Not a whole lot of wine and beer choices, but glasses of '95 Clos du Bois cabernet sauvignon ($6.50) and '97 Canyon Road merlot ($4.25) as house choices worked well one day with both the chicken and lamb sandwiches.

A pasta station with two types of pasta and three sauce options ($5.95) delivers a properly cooked linguine dish with a passable Italian sausage sauce - marinara and tomato-basil being the other two.

But don't cut corners here by passing up the sweet baked goods.

Macaroons are as good as you'll find (75 cents), and the fulfilling Russian cinnamon coffee cake ($2.95) is big enough to share.

And you'll discover plenty more worthwhile options to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Yet diners who prefer full-service restaurants may balk at waiting in line and doing the self-service thing.

However, if you don't mind the inconvenience of carrying your food to a table, the Corner Bakery is definitely a splashy new food-service concept worth trying.

THE FACTS

The restaurant: Corner Bakery.

Where: 4776 Commons Way, Calabasas.

Phone: [phone].

When: Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, to 10 p.m. Friday, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Recommended items: Daily soups (especially the tomato and bread recipe), chicken pomodori panini, ham on pretzel ficelle train sandwich, pasta with Italian sausage sauce, roasted potato bread, macaroons, Russian cinnamon coffee cake.

How much: Soups and salads from $2.50 to $6, sandwiches from $2 to $7, pizzas and pastas from $3.75 to $8, cake and sweet baked goods from 75 cents to $3. Wine and beer. All major credit cards accepted.

Wine list: A small board lists a trio of house wines (cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and merlot) by the glass, priced from $4.25 to $6.50.

Our rating: Three stars for food.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Manager Joel McClish presides over the serve-yourself offerings at the Corner Bakery, an upscale cafeteria in Calabasas.

David Sprague/Daily News