WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND
Use sets for favorites, recents, sets and collections instead of the current dropdown menu.
The reason to use sets is so that the users can customize these however they like.
Sets can also show a lot more info about the objects.
Also, this is already how custom widgets work. When you click on them, they open the source object.
REAL WORLD USE CASES
With the change from alpha to beta, you are no longer able to custom sort your favorites. Using collections (and hopefully sets soon) would allow users to custom sort them again.