Demitasse Pastry Update — Sugarbloom

It has been a very long time since I’ve done a Demitasse pastry update. I thought I’d take the opportunity to highlight the fact that they carry Sugarbloom pastries now, which are pretty great, and reflect back on Demitasse briefly.

Pitchoun — a French Bakery by Pershing Square

Pershing Square is an odd place.  Framed by the Jewelry District and the Biltmore Hotel, it is an inhospitable island of urban blight. (Read up for more info: KCET history of Pershing Square; Thoughts on redevelopment.)  But a couple new food places are popping up, including the very ambitious Pitchoun! Bakery.  Opened by actual French bakers with an apparently unlimited budget, does Pitchoun! live up to its aspirations to become a destination in the nascent Downtown dining scene?

Bakeshack — The Closest Thing in LA to Tartine’s Bread

Bakeshack is a new bread baker that has been setting up shop at farmers markets in the OC, and now is coming to the Playa Vista farmers market. They sell big, chewy loaves that are unlike almost any other bread in LA. In fact, it’s really almost a ripoff of SF’s Tartine.

This is some seriously great bread. It tastes like they just followed Chad Robertson’s directions in his Tartine cookbook. A sourdough that is not very sour. A crust that is charred but not tough or crisp. Moist chewiness is the signature here, with a bit of sour and a bit of salt.

Sycamore Kitchen – A New Contender for Best Brunch

Maybe this title is getting ahead of me. One visit is not enough to take the crown from Huckleberry (I’ve been meaning to write up Zoe Nathan’s place for a long time). But I was kind of blown away by how great Sycamore Kitchen was.

Bread Lounge – Kouign Amann for Hipsters

A newly open to the public operation, Bread Lounge brings serious pastry and breads to the Arts District. They’ve been supplying bread to the likes of Church and State and underground supper club Wolvesmouth for a while but have just opened the front to the public and introduced pastries, coffee, and sandwiches.

Tartine Bakery in SF – Morning Buns in the Motherland

The mother of Huckleberry and Sweet Rose Creamery has been beckoning with the siren call of morning buns. In SF, I made a detour to see if Tartine would live up to its legendary reputation as maybe the best bakery in the Bay Area.