La Brea Bakery
I've read a short thread here on this bakery and was distressed that it's been sold? What's up? Any info would be great.
Thanks,
David
By David
on May 1, 2002 07:08 PM
Los Angeles Area
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By David
on May 1, 2002 07:08 PM
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Here's the press release about it (from July 2001)...
Link: http://www.hlhz.com/MediaRelations/13...
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It went corporate and the changes are becoming more obvious. I have shopped their regularly for at least 8 years and I find it really depressing.
Since when is corporate freezer bread "artisanal."
I was there last week and asked about my favorite Viennese pastry, the brioche filled with the best not to sweet cream. I was told some mangled tale about bakers not liking them and Anaheim and it being too much.
? I have been buying them for 6 years at least? Why is it now "too much." Let me guess, some bean counter said that they could make an extra penny an hour on something.
It is a bakery for god's sake and it should act like it.
I would have understood lack of demand but that excuse I got had nothing to do with it.
::::kick curb::::snarl:::don't mess with my pastry:::
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The nice thing about Nancy Silverton's overweening greed is that it has driven me to find other producers of good bread. The thin baguettes at San Francisco's Arizmendi bakery truly crunch when you bite into them, while the stuff sold by the La Brea Bakery, while good, possesses the leathery crust so common in second-rate bakeries. Silverton turned the La Brea Bakery name into a label for parbaked lousy supermarket bread years before she literally sold out, and the cookie dough, ice cream and other goods available at the original store are just the next logical step.
But do let us be duly grateful for the very fine things the bakery does sell. My gosh, some of it is divine!
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Yes - Divine are the rum cakes, the chocolate brownies, the lemon poppy seed muffins, the brioche, the maple cakes, and many more.
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I never understood the popularity of this place.... and agree there are better bakeries in the city, though certainly not a lot and with limited distribution.
LA Bread's Kalamata Olive Bread and Le Pain Quotidien's baguettes are two of the best.
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LA Bread is great! Great breads , terrific pastries & cookies. They made up gift baskets for my entertainment clients (very jaded types) for Christmas & everyone was fighting over the goodies. They are located at 3119 Los Feliz Blvd. in Atwater Village. Also they have a booth at the Hollywood Farmer's Market on Sunday's & the Silverlake Farmer's Market on Saturday's.
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Agree! Try Euro Pane's flakey on the outside, ribbony soft on the inside croissant and tell me it's not way better than La Brea Bakery's.
Euro Pane
2 blocks east of Lake on Colorado in Pasadena
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It's not. I don't think either are that good. I have never tasted a croissant equal to those available in France outside of France. It is a very specific product requiring specific flour, butter and, especially, water that does not travel well to this side of the pond.
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All of those things but particularly the water and the eye of the baker. In Brittany if the croissants are too light, Mme Mimi (our hotel owner in Mur de Brettagne) says 'that naughty baker looked away too soon'.
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and of course sumi chang, owner of euro-pane, got her start working for nancy at la brea.
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Yes, but in this case, I think the student outdoes the teacher.
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You are right. I formally retract my previous statement.
This morning I went to LaBrea Bakery for an assortment of breakfast goodies which included an orange danish (superb), a maple something (very good), a miniature cheese tort (excellent) and four supposedly fresh croissants (ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE... no flake, useless... the kind of thing you mind find at the best French restaurant in DesMois.)
Lord Lipitor deeply regrets having mislead any readers on here. I may soon have to swtich to Zocor.
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If any of you really cared, why not ask Nancy, I was in there a week ago at around 8-8:30 in the morning. Nancy was over-seeing everything, yes the bakery has been sold, but she is still there as part of the deal, and some dishes come and go, people are always mad when their favorite is gone. I love most of her stuff, but some things are better made by me, and some at other bakeries. You will never make everyone happy, so quit complaining and enjoy what she does and enjoy what other bakeries do!!!
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I would like to think that I am such a longstanding customer (and fan) of La Brea Bakery and Campanile that most of the counter staff, wait staff, and certainly the bartenders know me on sight.
And while the quality remains very high for most of the items at the bakery, I absolutely feel that I have a right and obligation to complain when items aren't up to their former standard.
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Sometimes I think that Campanile/LaBrea Bakery are like the Lakers of food. Everyobody likes to complain about them, but they keep winning.
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Sometimes I think that Campanile/LaBrea Bakery are like the Lakers of food. >>
Good analogy, but don't tell Shaq. He thinks Burger King is the Lakers of food. Sic transit showtime.
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