3 days of Pastry, Dessert, and Ice Cream, Los Angeles CA

When the Kings announced that my favorite goaltender of all time would be honored in a special ceremony the day before my 33rd birthday I bought tickets within seconds, later arranging a driving plan to accommodate bringing a friend to Manhattan Beach and an eating agenda aggressive as ever, the first stop en route to Manhattan beach being M+M Donuts in Anaheim, hope of the famous Warm Blueberry Cake Doughnut – and some other random doughnuts as well.

Arriving just after 6am to find the overnight line now dissipated we approached the window half-expecting them to be sold out as there were no blueberry to be seen but apparently making them fresh and subsequently storing them in a warmer we were told we were in luck – seven left; two for me and five for my friend to take to his buddies…and a quartet of disappointed folks arriving seconds after us to find only the ‘other’ donuts, including an excellent Old Fashioned Buttermilk and average Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Cake, Crumb Cake, and Apple Bearclaw options which I selected to round out my half dozen.

Moving on to the famous Blueberry Donut – the donut I’ve heard people say justifies a 90 minute wait – I’ll simply note that although I cannot say I’d wait an hour and a half for it I can say that it was the best blueberry donut I’ve ever tasted; a crisp sugary glaze overlying a loose cake structure packed with blueberry and butter flavor, some undoubtedly artificial, but delicious just the same.

With meals and meetups with friends intermingling, the next pastry-centric stop of the trip would be Bittersweet Treats in Pasadena, a space surprisingly convenient from brunch at Canele and although a bit ‘cutesy’ for my liking a rather nice experience where my friend and I had a chance to sample a half-dozen baked goods in addition to two frozen confections gifted to us by the young man at the counter; a tart and astoundingly pure Tangerine Sorbet plus the oft raved Salted Chocolate Ice Cream which I personally found to be too dense and too sticky – something like fudge moreso than ice cream.

Onward to the pastry, a pair of cupcakes featuring Red Velvet and Chocolate with Salted Caramel frosting were both light and balanced with mild (not overly sweet) flavor while a duo of cookies – Brown Butter and Chocolate Chip – were both crispy on the exterior and soft within, the brown butter particularly memorable with pudding soft pockets of sweetness amidst the crumbs. Bigger, and better, the staff recommended “Mom’s Magic Bar” featuring a base of chocolate cake topped with Coconut, Chocolate Chips, Almonds, and Caramel would prove excessive in the best of ways while the focus on salt continued on to the best item of the visit, a Salted Caramel Bundt Cake with a dense, poundcake structure swirled with liquid caramel – a simple reminder that milk, butter, flour, sugar, and salt are sometimes all you really need to make something wonderful.

Onward to my birthday, after a long run and far too many early calls from the east coast I started the day at Farmshop, a large market/restaurant already bustling with activity, where I was seated quickly at a large 2-top and presented a menu of savory and sweet items from the kitchen as well as a comprehensive list of choices from the bakery; seemingly an embarrassment of riches with some ordered for then and others for later.

Beginning first with a decent cup of LAMIll Coffee that was copiously refilled as I ate followed by an excellent whole wheat cherry scone and crisp, but unfortunately “over-frangipaned” almond croissiant it bears mention that if visiting Farmshop on a weekend you’d be best served to order a pastry as the kitchen is meticulous and slow – my French Toast arriving nearly 45 minutes after I placed my order and, although nicely complimented with blueberry marmalade, lemon curd, chopped pecans, zoe’s bacon, and crown maple syrup a less custardy than I’d prefer – the flavor and texture of the dish more reliant on the accoutrements than the actual treatment of the bread.

A decent breakfast, and enough to make me curious about the restaurant’s baked goods, a trio of items taken for later would present more mixed results – the Chocolate Hazelnut Danish quite delicate with shattering layers of pastry enveloping dense Nutella filling and the Chocolate mousse light and airy with a slick of salty caramel adding sweetness without being overwhelming. Less impressive, and actually most disappointing, the Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding stood as a dense block of chocolate – more brownie than bread pudding – while the Anglaise, unfortunately served cool, was maximally sweet and minimally creamy, thus destroying any semblance of nuance and tilting the whole dessert towards something ‘clumsy’ as opposed to rustic.

Traveling later to Silverlake largely to wander the local arts and artisans scene I inevitably found myself at Sqirl at G&B for a quick bite and aside from the parking ticket I managed to acquire in my mere ten minutes at the small space I couldn’t have asked for better; a bottle of iced Perla Del Sur roasted by Heart and a thick slice of buttery brioche amply topped with Sqirl’s thick and aromatic Blueberry Rhubarb jam – the pair simple, perfect, and worth the trip to Silverlake all by themselves (though probably not the ticket, so be weary of signage.)

Killing time before my first of two birthday dinners the next stop of the trip, Susina Bakery, was largely to see if the oft raved Banana Cream Pie lived up to its praise and arriving late in the day I really should have stuck with the cakes and pies, yet curiosity got the best of me and I also opted for a disastrous Almond Croissant that was so wispy, doughy, and weakly flavored that it may as well have been from Burger King – the majority of it going to the pigeons. Moving next to the pie, much larger than expected and thus shared with a friend later in the day, it was a certainly a substantial improvement from the croissant featuring a crust that was at once flaky yet and substantial enough to stand up to the banana pudding, but at the same time I found the whipped cream to be somewhat overwhelming – a flavor more sugar-sweet than fruit-sweet, not something particularly bad, just not what I’d hoped for.

Waking up early after a rough night’s sleep following second dinner at Night + Market but powering through a long run I made the drive to meet friends at Stan’s Doughnuts in Westwood and taking a cue from the owners as to what was best we were treated to a half dozen doughnuts that were at once classic and unique, but most importantly fresh and warm from the fryer – three of them literally glazed as we stood there and the others pulled directly from the cooling racks as opposed to the case.

Beginning first with a tangy and crumbly buttermilk bar and the raised, glazed, and clever “Simpsons” doughnut Stan’s proved it could nail the classics before moving on to a pair of filled options – the Stevie and the Huell – featuring Peanut Butter & Banana and Peanut Butter & Chocolate, respectively, that were both densely packed with surprisingly high quality peanut butter and although not at all subtle, excellent for sharing.

Never one to pass on a fritter – particularly one mere minutes out of the hot oil – the ‘Crispy’Apple Fritter and Blueberry Fritter (equally crispy, though not described as such) would round out the sampling in excellent fashion, both full of fresh fruit and although expectedly greasy and heavily glazed not overly sweet, the apple particularly excellent with good cinnamon flavors providing a degree of complexity generally not expected to shine quite as strong in a fritter.

Proceeding to proper breakfast, now solo, Milo & Olive had received strong word of mouth amongst people I trust and coming from the team behind Huckleberry and Sweet Rose perhaps I entered the small Santa Monica restaurant with too high of expectations, but what I received during my visit largely proved to be underwhelming – the service slow and unresponsive and the prices high for what I received, particularly an almond croissant so thick with frangipane that it literally looked like it was ladled on “Biscuits and Gravy” style.

Moving past the croissant which my server did not even bother to inquire about when 3/4 of it returned to the kitchen unfinished, the Maple Walnut Sticky Bun proved a slight improvement, though the pastry itself was rather dry and thus highly dependent on the sweet and nutty topping while my savory selection of the signature “Cheesy Eggs with Super Cheesy Toast and La Quercia Prosciutto” was actually quite delicious, particularly the crisp and smoky bread beneath the bold and briny pork – an excellent counterpoint to the sweet sticky bun. While I remain confused as to how the team behind the excellent baked goods at Huckleberry could produce such mediocre pastry in its sister spot I’d certainly consider a return visit for the famous garlic knot, but only if I was in the area with additional dining plans to follow.

Finishing up the trip, a pair of stops after dinner en route back to Phoenix featured cookies and ice cream, the former at Diddy Riese where a single dollar nets three cookies – in my case Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin Walnut, and Cinnamon Sugar – all served warm and each quite good, the ever present line undoubtedly a result of quality and convenience as opposed to novelty or ultra high end ingredients. Sure there is nothing here you couldn’t make at home for less, but there is definitely something to be said for a variety of warm cookies without having to turn on the oven or bake by the dozen.

Last but not least, Saffron & Rose’s 35-year-old family owned and operated take on Persian Ice Cream was my last stop on the way out of town and eschewing oddities like cucumber, rose, or ginger and instead relying on my server to offer his suggestions my $4.75 tariff for 3 scoops provided the flavors of Pecan and Raisin, Caramel Chocolate, and Double Date – the first two quite subtle in flavor and not particularly interesting while the Double Date was actually quite delicious, the ice cream itself flavored like fresh dates with chunks of the dried fruit cut in for texture. Slow spun and hand packed with a sticky heaviness unlike most artisanal ice creams on the market today I gather that much of the hype surrounding Saffron & Rose is related to the novelty of the flavors, a selling point perhaps more significant in the 1980s-90s than during the current American artisanal ice cream renaissance.