Kouign amann los angeles

The artistry comes through in the contrast of textures, the tension between sweet and acid, the purposeful, relaxed appeal of the shapes. But she came back to baking. If you want to sample the finest collection of pastries in Los Angeles, join the line. Fried chicken and waffles or the croque madame, the yolks of its fried eggs just itching to burst, beckon the decadence chasers. Blond omelets will please the classicists.

The mushroom toast probably comes closest, a teetering edifice of scrambled eggs, ham, mushrooms and spinach with Hollandaise and red wine sauces. Kimchi fried rice verges on signature status, with its straightforward but potent whirl of diced short rib, poached eggs and pickled radish. Ask for the eggs soft scrambled and they arrive nearly orange and only just set, which is to say impeccable. Disappointments are rare.

The masa base of chorizo sopes has been gummy more than once; a rotisserie chicken salad, part of the more savory lunch or brunch menu available after 11 a. But we must talk about the pan drippings. You should order them, together with butter, as part of the bread service to kick off the meal. The pan drippings unite the browned bits left in sauce pots deglazed with chicken stock, combined with meat trimmings and simmered with duck, quail and chicken carcasses. It is hallucinatory Thanksgiving gravy.

But that would mean skipping Santa Barbara spot prawns in ponzu sauce, agnolotti filled with sweet corn and gilded with brown butter, heirloom tomatoes with burrata and watermelon, pepper-crusted duck with tiny turnips and nectarines …. His cooking does not shatter conventions; he uses exceptional quality and meticulous technique to both comfort and startle. Concentrate on the fundaments of California cuisine: salads, pastas, heartier meats. The dishes, by whims of harvests and imagination, are forever in flux.

Lately clouds of goat cheese have churned underneath figs and endive; a lamb ragu clinging to ridged mafaldine noodles tastes nearly syrupy with tomatoes.

A family-style platter of pork — grilled loin, belly and two sausages including a wonderful, mild blood sausage — would be special enough, but then quartered, roasted peaches blaze among the meat like poppies in a super-bloom. Soon enough the stone fruit will disappear, and the rack parked near the bread ovens will parade fall fruits; before long the menu will list ricotta toast with persimmons, and pork belly with apples, and vanilla bean rice pudding with poached pears.

La Brea Ave. Bill Addison is a James Beard Award-winning restaurant critic. He was previously national critic for Eater and has held critic positions at the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News and Atlanta magazine. We tried more than 25 alternative proteins. Start watching. Earth Focus Start watching. City Rising Start watching. Lost LA Start watching. See All Shows. More on the Dodgers.

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By Sandi Hemmerlein. Since then Herrera has fell in love with become an involved and integral member of the Los Feliz community. The name might suggest a '90s flick centered on the incorrigible hijinks of Brendan Fraser, or Dave Chappelle and Jim Breur for that matter, but Baked on Oceanview is in fact a corner bakery about block away from the busy Montrose street of Honolulu.

Towards the entance on Ocean View, there is a tray of kouign-amann placed among pastries in glass cases that halfway line the perimeter of the shop that's not dedicated to the kitchen. Each kouign-amann is placed in a paper muffin cup as considerably steeped as it is with glaze, drawing comparisons to sticky buns.

Sycamore Kitchen. A kouign-amann by any other name would, well, taste and look as sweet. Karen Hatfield's kitchen turns out the pastry on the golden side, and at a few batches each day.

If you stop by past the early afternoon, be prepared to select another pastry on the countertop as it's a strong likelihood that they'll have sold out by then. La Brea Ave. Bouchon Bakery. The bakery arm of Bouchon is noticeably dark, just off to the side of the restaurant and bar. The average kouign-amann is placed upside down, so as to preserve the bottom or top, depending on your perspective , caramelized to a point of appearing like lacquered toast.

If you stand there long enough, a well-meaning fellow patron will volunteer her recommendation of the pastry, over macarons, seasonal fruit croissants and pains au chocolat, before she orders two for herself.

More than one source points to Zoe Nathan as the baker who introduced Angelenos to the Breton pastry. At Huckleberry, a kouign-amann can show up as an apple turnover, layers of pastry dough folding over itself with a sliver of apple filling peeking through.

It's a reminder that many of us know very little about a kouign-amann and its possibilities past the initial introduction. Make sure to call in advance to inquire what form it takes for the day, if one is even baked for the day at all.

Bread Lounge. A kouign-amann at Ran Zimon's Bread Lounge in the Arts District tows a precise line, no residual stickiness and seldom greasy. It abides with his overarching practice of restraint that turns out consistently reliable loaves of baguettes and trays of pain au chocolat.

Santa Fe Ave.