Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Perfect Croissants and More for Brunch at Luca on Sunset

About a month ago, e*starLA blogged that Luca on Sunset has the best pastries in West Hollywood, so when I got invited for a brunch tasting, I was quite excited. Little did I know I would be in for an eight-course brunch!

Our brunch started with a spread of the pastries we couldn't get enough of:
croissant, almond croissant, chocolate brioche, scone, apple danish, blueberry muffin, sweet potato speck biscuit, citrus poppy seed muffin

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The pastry chef at Luca, Rebecca West, apparently was a runway model in France, where she lived off of coffee and croissants. When that career had to end, she thought making croissants was the logical next step!
Well, it's true. The croissants are definitely some of the best I've had from the buttery plain croissant to the flaky chocolate brioche. I had been looking for a good pain du chocolat or something similar ever since Bite Bar closed, now I've found one.
If I didn't have the menu of the other seven courses in front of me as a reminder, I would eat all of them. ALL.

Unlike the muffins at most bakeries where they drop a few blueberries at the top so they're visible but there's nothing inside, Luca's muffin is chock full of blueberries inside!
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IMG_7974What's brunch without juice or mimosas?
The mimosas are made with fresh squeezed orange juice, and if you want to go non-alcoholic or healthier, you can go with juice options like the Pine-App (pineapple, pear, apple) and Capitol Carrot (carrot, beet, celery). I personally liked the Pine-App much better (never was a big fan of carrot juice), but some people really liked the other one.

The pancakes are made of buckwheat flour (so it's gluten-free, even if they don't tout it as such on the menu)
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It reminded me of the buckwheat waffle at Kings Row. Buckwheat flour really gives this breakfast standard that nice special flavor, and it's fluffy to boot.

The owner/chef Luca Giorgetti uses no butter in his dishes, just olive oil, which garners his healthy dishes quite the following. There's still butter in the pastries, though!

For a breakfast sandwich, you can never go wrong with one made using their amazing croissants.
Spinach Croissant: scrambled eggs, spinach, fontina, and bell pepper sauce
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Apparently Dan Cox once asked the pasty chef how much butter is in the croissants and she said "the appropriate amount". Just right for a French croissant! Then add eggs and cheese. Mmmm..

OK, so you really don't want butter? Try this sandwich: Eggs and Turkey Bacon with omelette frittata style, turkey bacon, roasted tomatoes, avocado
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You still get some rich mouthfeel from the avocado, but it's still a really healthy sandwich.

Egg dishes are plentiful here. We tried the Spinach and Pesto Omelette: spinach, tomato, mushroom, zucchini, fontina, basil pesto
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I liked the 3-Mushrooms Omelette even better, though, with porcini, shiitake and crimini mushrooms cooked in sherry, parmesan, and parsley
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Luca said that breakfast in Italy is much more interesting, as they would incorporate leftovers from dinner into it. It's not just bacon and eggs and toast. Well, the 3-mushroom omelette takes on that concept - the mushroom sauce on top is something you'd find in a dinner entree, but now incorporated into a breakfast menu.

On the heftier side is the Sausage Calzone: scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, caramelized onion, broccoli, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and bell pepper sauce
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This didn't seem that special to me, I'd rather get the Chicken Hash with tomato sauce, organic eggs, and basil pesto
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The chicken was one of the more boldly flavored dish we tasted. I always say I don't like white meat, but surprisingly that's all this is, mixed with tomato sauce and basil pesto, yet I liked it quite a bit!

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As if we didn't have enough to eat, we also had some dessert:
Panna Cotta with vanilla beans and a mini cupcake.
The mini cupcake was more like a fudge than a cupcake, very decadent!

Parking on Sunset is a nightmare, but luckily there's a parking garage for this building and Luca validates (for 90 minutes I believe).
The only problem with brunching at Luca? The brunch dishes might be healthy with no butter, but it would be blasphemy not to chow down on some pastries! Well, that's not really a problem for me.

Brunch is served until 3pm daily.

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Luca on Sunset
7950 West Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 822-2900
lucaonsunset.com
Luca On Sunset on UrbanspoonDisclosure: this meal was hosted

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