Steampunk CoffeeBar & Kitchen
Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake
The Stack – Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Bacon, Egg, Belgian Waffle with Cayenne Maple Aioli served with sautéed Kale and Onions
French Toast – Thick Cut Sweet Bread, Oven-Baked, with Blackberry Jam and Goat Cheese Glaze
Located in Valley Village, and decked out with the work of local artists beneath the gleam of natural lighting from overhead skylights, Steampunk Coffee Bar is one of those places that always sparked curiosity, and without much to do between breakfast and lunch it was just after 9am that I entered to find smiling servers, gearworks amidst wood, and a small menu of reinterpreted brunch classics.
Far less trendy than the name would suggest, with patrons ranging from a small tech-group brainstorming in the corner to an elderly man and his dog, it was to mellow tunes that the mid-morning meal was set and opting to go with items designated as ‘signatures’ as well as a personal favorites the three courses that followed were, at best, a mixed bag.
Marred by artificial maple syrup despite price-to-portion ratios that could have easily afforded the real thing, it was shortly following a smallish wedge of unmemorable coffee cake that the proper part of the meal began and although one is forced to admit that the kale is as good as the rumors neither the under-crisped chicken nor the flaccid waffle were particularly remarkable in the least – a sweet/savory ‘signature’ done better at dozens of other spots and thus not really warranting the John Hancock designation at all.
Wandering the web via Free Wi-Fi during a requested wait between plates it was just shy of 10:15 when the French Toast arrived, and this time entirely eschewing syrup to instead focus on nuance suffice it to say that although a bit dry in the middle the thick slice of Hawaiian bread shined – each bite a toasty juxtaposition of yeast and sugar beneath a lacquer of jam and subtly funky cream.
http://www.steampunkla.com/
