G&B Coffee Elevates Coffee Experience at Grand Central Market(DowntownLA)

The Grand Central Market in downtown LA is experiencing a revival with the opening of some great destinations, including G & B Coffee, which used to be located inside Sqirl. The coffee bar is also visible from the street and pedestrians can just walk up to it without going through the market itself first.

G & B Coffee wanted coffee to return to being a social experience, more like a bar, where guests can interact with baristas and other guests instead of moving down the line to get your pourover.

By the way, I came here for a preview tasting so for some, the pictured portions are much smaller than the full size that you'll get when you purchase.
G & B doesn't roast their own coffee, instead you'll find a rotating selection of their current favorite coffees from other roasters. Right now they seem to be liking Heart from Portland, but they'll have 6-10 different varieties each day so there will always be something for everyone.
The most popular item may be the almond latte. Kyle Glanville, one of the co-founders, thinks that soy tastes weird with coffee, so instead they have almond milk made in house which is only slightly sweet and is quite good. It has a nice subtle flavor that goes well with coffee.

The coffee shop sells pastries from Pete the Baker, who used to do pastry for Storefront Deli in Los Feliz.

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San Fernando Valley Reviews

**** SAN FERNANDO VALLEY ****

BLVD Bar (Studio City)
Bow and Truss (North Hollywood)
Casa Vega (Sherman Oaks)
Firenze Osteria (Toluca Lake)
Idle Hour (North Hollywood)
Mac-O-Licious (Valley Village)
Mariscos El Teto's (Sun Valley)
Ombra Ristorante (Studio City)
Pedalers Fork (Calabasas)
PizzaRev (Studio City)
Public School 818 (Sherman Oaks)
Saddle Peak Lodge (Calabasas) *
Sushi | Bar (Encino)
Sushi Katsu-ya (Encino)
The Tasting Room and Lobby Lounge at Four Seasons Hotel (Westlake Village)
Tipple and Brine (Sherman Oaks)
Tee's on the Green (Tujunga)
Vitello's (Studio City)

Pedalers Fork (Calabasas, CA): Where Bikers Meet Food and Cocktails

Pedalers Fork in Calabasas is where a restaurant meets a bike shop, opened by two good friends who combined their respective passions (one loves food, one loves biking). It's a bit of a drive but I finally managed to come here on my way to taking my mom to the outlet mall. The restaurant is spacious, with high ceilings and more seats on the second floor. On a good day, head outside to sit next to the creek and watch people get to work on the bike shop - you'll get the feeling this is what California is all about.

View of the bike shop

 It was early in the day but since the cocktails here were designed by Marcos Tello and Aidan Demarest so I had to try one. Or a few.

 The menu's probably changed by now (I know, I'm slow!), but I enjoyed the Second Gear (rye, coffee infused Punt e Mes, Maraschino, and coffee bean float) and Rye Hummingbird Down (Chartreuse, rye, honey and lemon). It's a solid cocktail menu - probably the best one in the Calabasas area - you can hardly go wrong.

My mom and aunt don't eat much, so we decided to share two dishes and a dessert between the three of us.
Seared Albacore Tuna sandwich with avocado, chili vinaigrette, savoy cabbage, cucumber kimchi, rainbow carrot ($15). I chose the mixed greens as a side.

They give you a pretty thick cut of tuna. The cucumber kimchi is not very spicy or pungent but added a nice flavor regardless.

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