Serving LA Mill coffee and both yeast-and cake-based doughnuts (that are baked rather than fried) in silly delicious flavors ranging from peach/lemon/strawberry, to chorizo cheddar, to rosemary olive oil, banana chocolate and one made with rum.
Fonuts
8104 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(3rd & Crescent Heights)
323.592.3075
www.fonuts.com
Lien Ta’s review on huffingtonpost.com
Read more and watch video HERE
Bacon Moon Pie
Here’s what it is: it’s sort of like a sandwich, with two pieces of Scottish shortbread attempting to contain the madness. But instead of butter, this shortbread uses bacon stock and bacon fat.
In the middle is a whole lot of marshmallow, which is made with Vermont maple syrup instead of corn syrup, and with Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon instead of water. On top of this, there’s dark chocolate, bacon and bacon caramel, which uses more bacon fat instead of milk (you know, just to keep with the theme).
Go online and place your order. They’ll FedEx it to you.
Bacon Moon Pie, $25 for four, now available online
Sweet Rose Creamery
at the Brentwood Country Mart
225 26th St, Suite 51
Santa Monica, CA 90402
www.sweetrosecreamery.com
310-260-2663
Mikawaya
118 Japanese Village Plaza
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
213-624-1681
www.mikawayausa.com
If you can’t leave Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods without a box of Mikawaya mango ice cream mochi, then it’s time you went to the source.
This year, there’s special reason to make the trip: The Little Tokyo bakery and ice cream shop that pioneered the frozen treat is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Mikawaya’s famous ice cream balls wrapped in chewy, sweet rice wrappers come in seven flavors, including the chocolate, strawberry and green tea you’re most familiar with, but also red bean, vanilla and coffee, which you won’t find anywhere else.
And now the shop has “mochilato”—mochi made with an always-changing list of gelatos, including toasted almond, plum wine, raspberry-cream, hazelnut and mint-chip. If you want a mochi-free scoop of gelato or ice cream, you can get that too.
But it’s not just fusing Eastern and Western tastes. Traditionalists still flock to the bakery, which has been run by the Hashimoto clan since 1910, for confections like candy-cane-striped sauma, a simple rice-paste treat; chofu, mochi wrapped in a thin pancake; or kanoko, mochi surrounded by chestnuts and whole red beans.
There’s plenty to keep everyone coming back for years to come.
The Mercantile,
6600 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-962-8202
www.themercantilela.com
While the burger-and-beer bar onslaught continues to overtake Hollywood, the time is just right for something like The Mercantile to open. Equal parts gourmet market, deli and unassuming wine bar, it’s exactly what the neighborhood needs.
With floral wallpaper and tall shelves stocked with artisanal jams, chocolates and condiments, the place has a sunnier disposition than any of owner George Abou-Daoud’s other nearby spots (Bowery, Delancey, Mission Cantina).
And with former Blue Velvet chef Kris Morningstar in the kitchen, the food has taken a more serious route, too, via clever twists on American and French classics.
At lunch, instead of tuna salad, there’s house-smoked trout rillettes topped with pretty pickled beets (pictured, $9). Tender braised flank steak in tangy caraway-seed barbecue sauce makes for a messy Sloppy Jo ($10.50). Even peanut butter and jelly gets upstaged by pumpkinseed butter and grape jam—both made in-house—on rustic Breadbar bread ($9).
Things switch to wine-bar mode at night, which makes for a great date spot before or after a movie at the Arclight. Who knew sharing a carafe of crisp Sancerre and creamy tuna noodle casserole ($16) or chicken potpie ($15) could be so romantic?
- from TastingTable
The one-block stretch of 18th Street between Dolores and Guerrero in San Francisco features more culinary firepower than many neighborhoods. Tartine Bakery anchors the eastern end. Delfina, Delfina Pizzeria and Bi-Rite Market occupy the middle. My reason for visiting the block on my next trip to the bay area is going to be:Bi-Rite Creamery, a 2006 offshoot of Sam Mogannam’s Bi-Rite grocery. They source milk, cream and eggs from Straus Family Creamery near Pt. Reyes, meaning their core ingredients can’t get much better.
The 20-bin display case features plenty of enticing flavors, including chocolate coconut, roasted banana and balsamic strawberry. - from FOOD GPS
Its list of flavors is dizzying: ice creams like Candied chestnut, McEvoy olive oil, Salt and pepper, Peanut butter curry, Pistachio-bacon, Blue Bottle Vietnamese coffee and sorbets like Hibiscus beet or Thai chili lime.
Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream
Neighborhood: Mission
2790 Harrison St
(between 23rd St & 24th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 550-6971
www.humphryslocombe.com
Serves an endless assortment of waffles and sweet grilled-cheese sandwiches.
From morning until midnight, you can sidle into this unassuming hideaway (wardrobe: T-shirt and jeans) to get your fix of Caramel Apple Pie Waffles. And Double Chocolate Waffles. And Raspberry Tart. Try them on their own with whipped cream and sugar, or match your choice with a deep selection of toppings and suddenly you might have a Tropical Coconut made up of a coconut waffle, lychee ice cream, pineapple and coconut flakes. You’ll probably want some coffee, or maybe a Habanero-Lime Iced Tea.
If you roll in for a breakfast dessert and suddenly you realize it’s already time for a lunch dessert, it might be time to try a Peach and Mascarpone Grilled Cheese, or maybe a Blackberry Grilled with blackberries, Muenster and walnuts on Texas toast - from UrbanDaddy
Syrup Desserts
611 S. Spring St
(N. of 7th)
Downtown
Los Angeles, CA 90014
213-488-5136
Some chefs take the straight-and-easy road to cooking, while others, like Laurent Quenieux, see it as an adventure. At his new Bistro LQ, the French-born chef is known for his use of game and offal in exotic and courageous presentations. The food is farm fresh and organic when possible, with ridiculous-sounding seafood like sea urchin tapioca pudding w/ yuzu kosho & kumamoto oysters in a yuzu martini gelee; monkfish cheeks w/ cippolini onion, artichoke confit, and pomegranate molasses; and salmon w/ chicharrones ragu, baby abalone, and bone marrow “royale”. The insanity continues onto meatier dishes like squab w/ duck hearts, gizzard pastilla w/ pistachios, rhubarb, and Middle Eastern-flavored ras al hanout jus, braised baby goat w/ guahillo peppers and oregano-scented tripe, and sunchoke puree-abetted veal cheek.
Dessert
Bistro LQ introduces the Five-Course Dessert
Bistro LQ is an indoor-outdoor space with a decadent five-course dessert menu.
First, find your way to a sidewalk table—the simple room spills out into the street, and the whole place is bright and white.
Build your own post-feast feast with options like Raspberry Glass With a Basil Sorbet. Then maybe some Rice Pudding in Goat Milk With Red Beets Espuma. Perhaps a helping of Avocado Mousse. A Chocolate Cookie With Salted Peanut Brittle Ice Cream. And for lucky number five—A Composition Around Dark Chocolate, which includes everything from churros with chocolate sauce to a chocolate pancake.
Drinks
As far as booze goes, LQ’s got a small list of artisan beers (Anderson Valley Boonte Amber Ale; Unibroe La Fin Du Monde; etc) as well as an extensive international wine list divided into four categories, according to the chef “based on moments of life and feelings” — “Celebration and Idare”, “First Date”, “Love and Passion”, “Sexy and Flirt”.
Cheese
With a dizzying array of sweet and savory house-made condiments, he takes even the classic cheese cart to new heights.
There are 20 to 30 different cow’s-, goat’s- and sheep’s-milk cheeses offered nightly, with several accoutrements served in tiny pots to go with them. A plate can have five to seven pieces or as many as 15 ($8, $15 or $24 depending on the number of diners), and comes with bite-size handmade breads.
With so many choices, the staff will offer some direction—try the sweet blueberry jelly with sharp Roquefort, or cumin seeds with smoky Alsatian Munster—but it’s more fun to explore. Have a bit of bright-tasting apple gelée with a bite of the earthy Pont-l’Évêque, or try one of Quenieux’s favorites, the tangy green tomato ketchup (click here for the recipe) with runny Sainte-Maure goat cheese.
Save the truffle honey for last: One bite by itself is like a pre-dessert dessert.
Bistro LQ
8009 Beverly Blvd
(E. of Laurel)
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323-951-1088
http://www.bistrolq.com/
