Pickles Deli & Restaurant has just about everything you can think of for breakfast, and then some. The menu also is packed with lunch and dinner fare.

I was on the lookout for a breakfast spot when someone handed me Pickles' menu and I began leafing through it. Six pages in, I was just coming to the end of morning possibilities.

So I grabbed a friend, and we took off for Newbury Park, where the restaurant was opened about two years ago by the Lovi family after previous — and ongoing — successes with The Country Deli in Chatsworth and the Agoura Famous Deli & Restaurant in Agoura Hills.

The formula is tried-and-true: Provide a lively atmosphere, dish up so many possibilities that something has to be a match, and fill some display cases with mouth-watering baked goods and a sampling of take-out favorites. The Lovi clan has been at it for more than a quarter-century and clearly has a finger on the pulse of diners.

Pickles, open every day of the year except Yom Kippur, turns out some very interesting breakfast food, plus traditional favorites like cheese blintzes, potato pancakes, smoked fish specialties and terrific toasted bagels. And that's just the beginning.

A check of the omelets turns up 20 versions, with ethnic flavorings and tributes to a bunch of states, Arkansas, Idaho, Wisconsin and Texas among them. You'll also find a Greek breakfast and huevos rancheros, corned beef hash and biscuits and gravy.

Everything is served up in a big, breezy space, with a side dining counter facing the bustling open kitchen, and a second space beyond the main dining room. Giant posters of old-time TV and film stars ("I Love Lucy" was near our comfortable booth) pep up the wall space.

It's a good thing we had an advance copy of the menu because otherwise it might have taken us as long to order as to eat. But we had a few ideas in mind, though it was obviously impossible to try every intriguing dish. So my friend and I narrowed it down to the Towering Homemade Cinnamon Loaf French Toast ($8.95), The Arkansas omelet ($9.95) and a cheese blintz ($4.50).

We started with enjoyable cups of coffee. Then my toasted sesame bagel arrived with a bit of cream cheese, hitting the spot with its toasty crispness and chewy texture. (Other bread options with many of the dishes are toast, English muffins, roll or homemade muffin.)

When the French toast plate arrived, we could see what had caused the slight delay: It really was "towering," with a thick slice of the egg-dipped toast as a base, then four cuts of banana, about an inch and a half each, forming pillars for the next layer of toast, then more banana and the top slice.

A thick layer of blueberries crowned the whole architectural wonder, and sliced strawberries and what my friend said were sliced canned peaches completed the dish.

It was quite a sight and certainly provided ample bread and fruit.

My friend thought that perhaps a little syrup or butter might have added moisture (both are available for the asking), but she enjoyed it as-is.

I chose The Arkansas omelet not for any soft spot in my heart for the state, but because the ingredients sounded appetizing: Jody Maroni apple-chicken sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The combination of elements was as pleasant as expected, but there was so much of the good filling that there was hardly room for the eggs, which seemed to play a minor role in the concoction as a binder. The sliced tomatoes that I chose instead of home fries, cottage cheese or fruit blended perfectly.

Along with those very hearty dishes we ordered a single cheese blintz. I have to say it was a heavenly blintz, so delicate and light in filling and wrap that it was like eating ambrosia. With a bit of sour cream on the side, and good strawberry jam, it was a blintz to remember.

As luck would have it, the baker emerged from the kitchen as we were leaving.

Was that ricotta in the blintz, my friend asked? Definitely not, replied the baker, who then described a combination of hoop, farmers and other cheeses. Whatever the combination, it's a keeper.

If we had brought a cooler with us, we would have selected a few deli items to cart back to Ventura.

But we were afraid they wouldn't keep, so we regretfully passed on chopped liver, knishes, kishka, stuffed cabbage, hummus, lox and more.

There are four pages of sandwiches, and several more of salads and soups, including matzo and beet borscht.

Dinner time brings on chicken, fish, stir-fries, pasta, vegetarian dishes, Middle Eastern specialties, "Mexicatessen" and a handful of "Slimliners."

The latter could come in handy if you find yourself eating too many of those cheese blintzes.

— Rita Moran visits restaurants unannounced and pays for her meals. If you know of a new, unusual or just plain good restaurant, please contact her at ritamoran@earthlink.net.