Lord Windsor Roasters in Long Beach

Long Beach has a surprisingly good coffee scene, with Lord Windsor Roasters and Rose Park Roasters leading the charge. It’s worth checking them out if you’re in the neighborhood.

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?

Demitasse Pastry Update – No More Allen Bakery

Good news, bad news.

Bad: Cafe Demitasse has lost its pastry provider, Allen Bakery. This is bad news considering they were pumping out kouign amanns better than Bouchon.

For now, Demitasse is slaking our carby thirst with KAs and chocolate croissants from Bread Lounge in the Arts District. Talking to Bobby, the owner, it seems like this is a stopgap while he finds a new source. He reports they sprung the news on him with just a couple days’ notice.

Hit the jump for the good news.

Bouchon Bakery Kouign Amann –

I guess I’m becoming a kouign amann douche.

When Bouchon Bakery opened below Bouchon a couple years ago, we were excited to try the pastry chef’s specialty, the kouign amann. We were always one step behind, with people buying a dozen of the things at a time. Finally, a recent trip finally yielded my first taste of Bouchon’s KA. Worth the wait?

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.

Demitasse Pastry Update – Allen Bakery

Changes at Cafe Demitasse. And I mean in the pastry case. Last time we checked in with Demitasse, the coffee got an A+ but the pastries got a B-. What’s changed?