Showing posts with label bakery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bakery. Show all posts

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Artisanal Bread, Croissant, and Brunch at Pain D'Avignon in Hyannis (Cape Cod)

Want to know where to get the best croissant in Massachusetts? Hint: It's not in Boston. Pain D'Avignon in Hyannis in Cape Cod has long since made some of the best pastries and breads in New England. These days, they distribute to various stores - all still freshly made with no preservatives - and one of their co-founders even started another storefront in New York.
Pain D'Avignon
The story of Pain D'Avignon is a bit of an unusual one. The bakery was opened back in 1992 by four young friends from Yugoslavia who was committed to making bread the traditional way. While a couple of the co-founders have moved to other places, the bakery that has grown considerably is still maintaining the same standards. I recently came for brunch and enjoyed their flaky, buttery croissant and pain au chocolat.
Pain D'Avignon
Love this pain au chocolat!
Pain D'Avignon

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Ames Street Deli (Cambridge, MA)

Backbar is one of my favorite bars in Boston, so when the same team opened Ames Street Deli near MIT, well, I was quite excited (and scared for my wallet).

Ames Street Deli is open from morning until evening with different offerings throughout the day (making the place even more dangerous for the wallet!). In the morning, come for a kouign amann. Ames Street makes a great one, the layers are so flaky and crispy with the baked sugar.

Kouign amann
They also have breakfast sandwiches and scrambled egg donut and bacon and egg donut! I'm not quite sure yet what those are like because I haven't woken up early enough to go to campus for those, but I'm certainly intrigued. The kouign amann is also typically gone by late afternoon, so you should come earlier for that, too.

At lunch, you'll find sandwiches. The sandwiches are on the smaller side, but each order comes with a side dish! I really enjoyed the Rabbit Sandwich (mustard bread, rabbit mortadella, pork liver, beets, radish)
Ames St

Monday, January 12, 2015

L'Amande Bakery: A Little Parisian Haven in Beverly Hills

L'Amande On Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills is a charming bakery called L'Amande. What looks like a normal storefront from the outside leads into a bright and lovely space. High ceiling, spacious, charming decor.

Now, the baked goods themselves. I think this bakery makes one of the baguettes in town. They make them throughout the day so you can always get one still fresh and warm from the oven!

L'Amande
I couldn't stop eating these baguettes. I got one fresh from the oven and it was perfect. The only baguette that might be better in town is the one Chef Ludo uses at Petit Trois, but you can't really buy those retail. As far as baguettes that you can just go and buy whenever you want, these may be some of the best in town.

As far as other baked goods go, one of their signature items is the Raspberry cream cheese croissant

L'Amande

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Pumpkin Kouign Amann at B Patisserie (San Francisco, CA)

Because fall is the season for pumpkin desserts, I'm reminded of the absolutely amazing pumpkin kouign amann that I had last year at Belinda Leong's b.patisserie in San Francisco.

B Patisserie
In the first place, I love kouign amann. It's better than a sweet croissant (well, maybe). It's better than a cronut (yes, I had the real thing). It's a pastry folded with butter and sugar and baked until the sugar caramelizes.

Secondly, the kouign amann at B Patisserie is really, really good. It's better than Dominique Ansel's DKA, if I can be so bold to say so. Top all that off with the fact that sometimes you'll find seasonal fillings. Like pumpkin. Like delicious, creamy pumpkin filling.
B Patisserie

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Morning in the Mission (San Francisco, CA)

During my last trip to San Francisco, I stayed at an AirBnB in the Mission. We spent the first morning wandering around the Mission district, starting with breakfast at Craftsman and Wolves.

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What we came here for is the famous "Rebel Within". At first glance this looks just like any other cheesy muffin. The Rebel Within is made with Asiago cheese, green onion, and Easton sausage.
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But how special this muffin is is only apparent when you cut into it ... a perfectly poached egg inside with runny yolk!
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Monday, February 24, 2014

La Brea Bakery Celebrates 25 Years, Reopens Full Service Cafe

Yes, it has been 25 years since Nancy Silverton first opened La Brea Bakery. Amazing! They recently reopened their flagship cafe in a large, beautiful space on La Brea (of course), coinciding with their 25 year anniversary.

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Of course, there will be plenty of bread and pastries to satisfy you, being La Brea Bakery, and all, but the cafe serves more than that.
Pastries
Don't miss the pastries, though, from the French toast rosette (which I highly recommend), almond croissant, to flower shaped macarons.

The cafe is poised to be a great place to grab lunch. serving salads, sandwiches, and pizzas.
I couldn't get enough of the Ham and Cheese Panini with rosemary ham, gruyere, balsamic onions, dijon aioli, sage, country white sourdough ($10.50)
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Saturday, September 21, 2013

Casual and Healthy Lunch at Twist Eatery

Twist Eatery recently opened in La Brea, serving breakfast, lunch and baked goods along with coffee.

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The lunch menu is mostly healthy (although they do have a burger if you're so inclined).
I got the Salmon Bowl, with lentil, quinoa salad tossed in a pomegranate, vinaigrette served with moroccan spiced salmon and a citrus salsa ($14)
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The salmon was nicely cooked, still moist, and the sauce and dressing were flavorful yet still light. I really liked this for a healthy yet still filling lunch.
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Monday, October 15, 2012

A Tour and Many Tastes of King's Hawaiian Bakery

King's Hawaiian Bakery was started by Robert Taira, the father of the current president, Mark, first as a stand alone bakery in Hawaii in Hilo in 1956. The family then moved to Honolulu and opened up the bakery on King Street. All the family worked at the bakery and tourists were buying them as souvenirs. The round bread was the number 1 fundraising item on the island. Mark's grandma then had the great idea of starting a mail order service and demand for King's Hawaiian bread kept growing into what it is now - a big factory in Torrance, California where they still produce bread with Robert's original recipe.


I was invited to tour the factory recently, and of course I'm not going to say no to such an opportunity!
Part of this tour involved some confidential information like the machines they use etc so not many pictures, sorry! But I was surprised at what a big operation this really was, from machines that cut and knead the dough to packaging it. The end of the line was a favorite, of course, with the smell of butter and fresh baked bread wafting in the air.



Of course, the best part was probably trying the rolls fresh off the line (we got the wheat rolls), just with butter! Can't beat this.
After the tour, we went out to their back lot for lunch! They've called in some of LA's best food trucks that serves or uses King's Hawaiian products, along with a whole spread of their own desserts. Mark's daughter Courtney experiments with different recipe using the bread in the factory kitchen including things like white chocolate chip bread pudding and garlic cheese bread. Some of the desserts we had are served at their restaurant, and also their newer fast casual restaurant, The Local Place. The Tres Leches cake and the bread pudding was my favorite.

I immediately went for Lobsta Truck's lobster roll, which is served on toasted King's Hawaiian sweet hot dog bun! I've always loved their lobster roll!
The Kogi Truck does their sliders using King's Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls. Both their short rib and tofu sliders were crowd favorites.
Buttermilk Truck's French Toast sticks also uses King's Hawaiian bread.
Ludo Truck serves their fried chicken with the dinner roll.
When we left, they told us they had a parting gift for us. I was expecting a bag, maybe one or two packages of their bread. But noooo. This is the Aloha spirit after all! Our parting gift was a huge box of goodies, so big that I needed help carrying it to the car! Enough bread to last me months, coffee, cookies, apron, gift card, etc ... Jealous? I bet. Want one? They're actually giving away a box to one of my readers too! The contents won't be exactly the same but you can be sure they will be as generous. Check back tomorrow for a new post for the giveaway! :)

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Thursday Night Family Dinners at Huckleberry Cafe (Santa Monica, CA)

Huckleberry is always crowded during breakfast and brunch, but not many know about their dinners. Huckleberry usually opens until 8pm on weekdays, but on Thursdays they stay open later serving a family style prix fixe dinners!

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The Thursday night dinners are $30 per person (half price for kids 12 and under) and the menu changes every week. I went on August 30th and had a feast!

Before the "courses", each table got some House Marinated Olives (marinated in orange juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary, olive oil)
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The orange juice was a nice touch.

This wasn't part of the menu, but we also had some guacamole spread on baguette
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I usually also don't pay attention to the beer and wine list here, but in the future I shall. We tasted some good wines that night, starting with a 2011 Red Car, Rose of Pinot Noir, Bybee Vineyard, Sonoma Coast.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Brunch at Farmshop (Brentwood/Santa Monica)

The Farmshop is one place I've been hearing a lot about from the new-ish Brentwood Country Mart (other than the Sweet Rose Creamery, of course). From what I've heard, the Farmshop was expensive but have great food. The former made me a bit reluctant but one day I decided to give it a try.

As with most brunch places in this city, there was a wait for a table (about 15-20 minutes) and we walked around the Country Mart to kill time.

Corn and Avocado Salad with herbed quinoa ($14)

Corn Avocado Salad

Yes, the prices here are pretty high but the ingredients they use are absolutely amazing. This may be the creamiest avocado I've had lately, perfectly ripe, making a healthy yet satisfying dish. The tomatoes were sweet and bursts in your mouth. We loved this dish and I'm saddened to think the peak avocado season is over.

Next was the Shirred Eggs with fra’mani chorizo, wild greens, chickpeas, yogurt and sourdough toast ($16)
Shirred Eggs

This was another hit and one dish that I kept thinking about for a few days after. I loved eating the runny yolk with the earthy kale and chickpeas. There was just the right amount of yogurt to bring the flavors together. Scoop them all up on the sourdough toast.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery: Westside's New Grab & Go Breakfast and Lunch

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery recently opened up shop in an office building on Santa Monica Blvd, just next to the 405. Their menu offers salads, sandwiches, soups, and of course baked goods. Perfect for the office worker.

You can either order from the computer kiosks or go to an actual person at the register. For the busy workers, they take orders online so you can just come and pick it up right away.

They will validate for 1 hour parking so you can enjoy your quick meal in the dining room.
I knew nothing about Specialty's before, but apparently this San Francisco-founded-and-based business now has 30 stores in California, Washington State, and Illinois. Being a bakery, they also make everything from scratch.

Specialty's has actually partnered with Peet's Coffee and there is always a Peet's inside each Specialty's store serving your drinks. I tried the Jasmine Lime iced tea which I actually really liked. I've been meaning to return to a Peet's soon to have this again, especially now that the real summer is underway.
I was invited to their pre-launch party where we were given $10 to spend. I came for breakfast so I decided to try one of their breakfast sandwiches: the Southwestern Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich.
Made with their ciabatta roll and cheddar, their eggs are mixed in with salsa, peppers, and corn. The toasted ciabatta was light with a nice crunchy crust, but the overall combination with the egg was too dry for my taste. I couldn't taste the salsa and I do think either the eggs could be cooked less or use more cheese. I did like the flavor that the corn added. Well, I just like corn.

The triple chocolate mini bundt cake ($2.49) on the other hand was so moist and rich. I loved the strong chocolate flavor.
They were also passing out bites of other baked goods, including their brownies (try their Lover's Lane brownie for something decadent. I really enjoyed this double fudge brownie topped with coconut and walnut).

Specialty's is really gearing up for people to pre-order on the phone and online. All the phone calls are directed to a central line - you won't get people actually working at your location picking up the phone, they need to be busy serving their customers. It's an interesting model, but hey, online orders are convenient. For those working in the area, it's a welcome addition to Zankou and Yoshinoya. I'd be grabbing some bundt cake or brownie and a cup of Peet's iced tea from time to time.

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery
11150 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(877) 502-2837
www.specialtys.com

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Plaisir Opening Party: Launching Guilty Pleasures

Plaisir is the newest hot bakery in town, recently launched by owner Daniel Salva and Frenchman Pastry Chef Philippe Dray (previously at Cafe Flore).
Plaisir has only been open for about a month but have garnered some great reviews on Yelp.

The main attraction at Plaisir is their take on the traditional cream puffs. Colorfully glazed and filled with a creamy mousse, the cream puffs come in many a flavor.
Their namesake creampuffs, which come in 2 sizes, are quite addicting. I was recently invited to their grand opening party where I tasted the vanilla, mint, and peach cream puffs. The peach filling has a nice hint of tartness that makes it even easier to keep popping more in your mouth.

We also tried some of their savory offerings:
Buttery croissant sandwiches include ham & cheese, and lox & cream cheese.

There's a special quiche-of-the-day every day and that night I tried their spinach quiche.
Good and healthier, but I have to say I loved the slightly richer and cheesy Quiche Lorraine even more (regular order $6.95).

You can also order crepes and Belgian waffles made-to-order here. I'll have to try them next time.

Besides the cream puffs, chef Dray also offers a variety of other desserts. A peek inside the display case during this party shows mousse, baba au rum, and various cakes.

During the opening party they had a live DJ and generously flowing cava, because as they say this place is about guilty pleasures.

But it's not ALL about guilty pleasures. You can do your work here too.
What I really loved about this place is not only do they offer FREE WI-FI, but each seat is also set up with an iPod nano and its very own headphones.

With a freshly made crepe or Belgian waffle and a couple of Plaisir creampuffs next to your laptop, it's quite the work set up, don't you think?

Plaisir is located in the same complex as Trader Joe's on Santa Monica Blvd. Parking is available in the back with free 1-hour w/ validation.

Plaisir
8613 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 855-7177
www.plaisir-la.com
@PlaisirLA
Plaisir on Urbanspoon

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Huckleberry: Pastry Gastroerotica

You wait in line for 5-10 minutes along the pastry case to place your order, staring at all the pastries. How can you not buy pastries? Staring at these:
And these:

I came in for brunch. I came out stuffed, carrying leftovers and a box of pastries to go. ("You know you want me," they were saying!)

Putting off eating the pastries, I chowed down on the Green Eggs & Ham (La Quercia Prosciutto, housemade english muffin - $12.00)
Poached eggs. Pesto sauce. Prosciutto. Arugula. A combination that I'll never turn down anywhere. Nicely poached eggs, good prosciutto. Pesto sauce was also great, flavorful but not overwhelming. English muffins were nicely toasted, except that the bottom became too hard to cut easily with a regular knife and so some were left on the table. I can eat this any day and be happy.

My friend had the Niman Ranch beef stew, which was a special that day, served with some baguette.
Hearty, and delicious! the beef was moist and tender and full of flavor. The stew was a little salty but eating it with the baguette (which was also great by itself) was just perfect.

Portions here are quite generous, I certainly came out full.

Back home, I munched on some pastries, including this Kouign Amann ($1.50)
Crispy, flakey, moist and nicely dusted with cinnamon & sugar. It wasn't too sticky nor too sweet. A great little treat. Now I just need my tea and I'm set.

The donut was also quite good. It was right in the middle in terms of dense vs. fluffy.
These pastries aren't anything 'fancy' but they are all made very well with high quality ingredients. They're also not cheap but you sure get what you pay for (although, no, I haven't been able to get myself to buy the $8.50 crostata. Can't pass that "What? $8 for pastry?" barrier). I haven't had a single disappointing thing. Yet. But again, ain't cheap (the cooked food, in comparison, was actually relatively inexpensive).

Huckleberry Cafe
1014 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 451-1322
www.huckleberrycafe.com
Huckleberry on Urbanspoon

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