Huckleberry

Huckleberry
1014 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
www.huckleberrycafe.com

(June 19, 2011)

I couldn't resist to come by another day so we came here a little while after our brunch in La Monarca Bakery.  As we walk into Huckleberry, the line was continuous to the end of the back entry.  It as during the rush hour of lunch, so it was no surprise that the line was long.  The only thing that was very disturbing is when we were waiting in line from the rear of the store, the locations of the restrooms were there also and it smelled really bad.  They should maintain the restroom, I didn't even want to use it, let alone trying to pray the line would go quickly so I can no longer inhale that disturbing smell (smells like going down the subway in New York, in my opinion).

David and I have decided on a salad since we weren't that hungry and their Warm Goat Cheese Salad sounds amazing so we thought we'd give that a try.  As we approach closer to the glass window of cold salads, pre-made items available, David saw that they had Garlic Confit and Quinoa Cakes.  Of course, we couldn't pass on that so we ordered those two items followed by a small serving of Ciabatta bread.

I like how they monitor the seating and would find seating for you once you placed an order.  Great way for flow of traffic because that is exactly what they do in Urth Cafe.  The food arrived promptly and their service was fast and friendly.  Too bad we were too full to try their pastries, they were mostly made with 'Whole Wheat Flours!'  I would love to try their bacon maple biscuits someday, so many temptations, you'll understand as you see my photos below.  Until next time, so I can try their delicious pastries!

La Monarca Bakery

La Monarca Bakery

1300 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90403

www.lamonarcabakery.com

(June 19, 2011)

La Moncarca Bakery is along Wilshire Boulevard with cross street of Euclid.  I love going here on a Sunday because their street parking is free on Sundays.  If you come here before 10:30am, there's plenty of parking along Wilshire!  As you walk into the door, there are a series of glass pantries to your left with many bake goods from conchas, mini conchas, tacos with chocolate or pineapple fillings, breads and many more.  Everything in this glass pantry is self serve with a tray and clamp on the side for you to grab and go.  As you approach to the counter, on the left side are an abundance of cakes for purchase by slice or as a whole.  Then as you get closer to the cashier counter, there are more bake goods and a menu of coffee to order.

My husband (David) and I picked as much items we can consume.  If only we brought our friends here with us, we'd be able to taste more and not feel as guilty with these amazing pastries on site.  When I saw the mini conchas, they remind me of second semester pastry class with Chef Stacy Demaso, so yummy!  The flavor is magnificent because I can taste the buttery goodness on their top crust.  Many bakeries from my local area carry conchas too, but you can tell they are made of shortening for their topping to keep the cost low.  David order their Cafe Oaxaca and it's divine and a must try!  Look below and see what we ordered!  Yum!

Look at all these amazing cookies, empanadas, and cupcakes that are Mexican baking inspired!

These are called Tacos that had certain fillings as labelled.

I forgot what these were, but I'll see them next time!

These were the things we ate!

 This Napoleon wasn't to par, the layers of flakiness didn't have a crunch to it, it tasted soggy.  Maybe it has been refrigerated overnight?

 This is their Tacos w/ Pineapple filling.  Tastes so yummy because when you bit into it, you have a thin layer of flaky crust follow by a bread layer and into the pineapple filling.

My Mini Vanilla Concha!

 My Mini Chocolate Concha! (MY FAVORITE)

Sunday Dessert Adventures

I woke up with the sun beaming through my window filled with warmth and comfort. What a beautiful day to go to the beach and enjoy the sun! As we were getting closer to Los Angeles (10W Fwy), it looked cloudy and cold. A bad mistake to be wearing shorts on a colder weather in Santa Monica, good thing David and I bought our sweaters. We decided to park our car at the 3rd Street Promenade parking structure (new outdoor shopping center) and take a walk to Urth Caffe to throw in some workout for the weekend aside from consumption of sweets and goodies. As we were getting closer to Urth Caffe, we saw the “Santa Monica Cummunity Garden.” The place was open to public to walk through and view, just don’t pick on other peoples plants. It’s a cute place, but it makes me think about the plentiful land in my backyard and how I am not making much use of it. Hopefully, I’ll make good out of our backyard this year!

Santa Monica Community Garden
2415 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90404

As we approach to Urth Caffe, the line was so long, yet went by quickly. The desserts display was amazing and they had this Matcha Brioche that I really wanted to try, but since I was planning to get a Green Tea Latte, I didn’t want to consume too much Matcha for the day. Instead, we settled for the Pineapple Prana Cake (Vanilla cake topped w/ Caramelized Pineapple). David and I shared a breakfast entrée called “Egg Salmone.” The toast on the bottom of the medium poached egg was buttery delicious. Strawberry on the side was sweet but the cantaloupe was not as great since it wasn’t in season. David had the Spanish Latte w/ Almond Milk and I ordered myself a Sugar-Free Green Tea Latte w/ Almond Milk as well. We both got a size large and it was HUGE. I may need to settle for a medium cup next time, but David said, “It was only twenty-five cents extra!” It’s okay, we just took our time to enjoy the cold weather sipping on our lattes while watching people walking by with their cute dogs. I like this place, but I think I may order my drink less sugar next time.

Urth Caffe
2327 Main Street
Santa Monica, 90404

The pie looks so CUTE!

The Egg Salmone

Sugar Free Green Tea Latte w/ Almond Milk

Spanish Coffee Latte w/ Almond Milk

We continued to walk further down and saw the Farmers’ Market along Main Street. It was our first time going to the Sunday Farmer’s Market. There were food vendors along with organic produce and goodness. Then we continue to walk onto Barnard Way and made a right to walk along the beach as we head back to our car. We left Santa Monica and head to Little Tokyo to have some Sushi and Paulette.

Paulette was our next adventure after some munchies from Mitsuru Cafe.  Paulette was empty inside, I like how it’s not crowded, but it was appoximately 4:00PM.  We decided to grab it to go and ordered ½ dozen. The color was so vibrant and appealing! When I took the first bite of the Almond Wedding flavor, I was in love with their macarons! An marvelous texture and they did their macarons well!

Paulettes
333 S. Alameda Street
Suite 103
Los Angeles, CA

 Caramel/Coconut/Almond Wedding/Earl Grey/Coffee/Pistachio

Euro Pane Bakery

Euro Pane Bakery

345 E Colorado Blvd
Ste 101
Pasadena, CA 91101

(626) 844-8804

Mon. - Sun.:  7:00 AM to 5:30 PM 

Bouchon Bakery

Bouchon Bakery
3355 South Las Vegas Boulevard 
Las Vegas, NV 89109  
(702) 414-6200
 
Mon. - Fri.:  7am-10:30pm
Sat. - Sun.: 8am-10:30pm

My friends, hubby and I stayed at The Venetian during the groups’ January birthday trip to Las Vegas.  We would stop by Bouchon Bakery for breakfast and coffee.  I must say, their croissants were flakey and burst of buttery goodness!  Their macarons were approximately 3” wide!  My favorite flavor would have to be in order:  Coffee, Pistachio, Raspberry.  They were spectacular and a must try filled with deliciousness.  Their little breads that were cut into leaf baguettes were also amazing when spread with raspberry jam and butter altogether. 

We also had the opportunity to try their Baguettes – Ham & Cheese, Bignets, Apple Croissant, Cream Cheese Danish, and Carrot Cake Sandwich.  Everything was ‘mouth-watering.’

The process of dieting can hold off when you come into this bakery, you will not regret the Classic European pastries they have to offer.  Their coffee is also delightful with low in acidity and no bitterness; that usually take the flavor of coffee away.  I enjoy my coffee mild and aromatic.  It's sad when I returned home, waking up the next morning, all I think about is Bouchon Bakery.  I love this place, it gives me the giggles just thinking about it! 

 Bouchon Bakery @ Venetian Hotel

Muffins

 Pain Au Chocolat

Macarons (Raspberry, Orange, Pistachio, Vanilla, Coffee, Chocolate)

 Window #1 - Left to Right, Top to Bottom
1st Roll - Oatmeal Raisin, Nutter Butter, TKO aka. Thomas Keller Oreo, Chocolate Chip
2nd Roll - Macarons: Raspberry, Passionfruit, Pistachio, Vanilla, Coffee, Chocolate
3rd Roll - Red Velvet Cupcake, Chocolate Cupcake, Coffee Eclair, Chocolate Eclair
4th Roll - Fruit Cup, Pudding, Granola Parfait

Window #2

Classic Croissant, Pain Au Chocolat, Pain Au Raisin

Jin Patisserie

Jin Patisserie
1202 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291

My lovely dessert adventure to Jin Patisserie!  Yay, the first Bakery Adventure of 2011.  It’s crazy to confine myself from eating so many deliciously sweets, but I can’t resist.  In order to continue with these dessert splurges, I do my best to pair my single weekend with an exercise activity prior to visiting a bakery ( ^.^ ).

As David and I walked into the bright Orange Door of Jin Patisserie, the seating areas were filled with guests sipping on teas, eating on their lunch entrees that came with the cake of the day.  There were some whom ordered exquisite desserts from this bakery.  As I walked into the shop, the left wall was a curved wall with a wood like Formica finishing.  The glass window display along the wall were filled with desserts and packed with deliciousness!  The elongated window display were also the perfect height to view what’s inside, an amazing design.  Plus, the window display is a refrigerator with a thermometer on the left side to make sure the desserts are in proper temperature.  You’ll have to go there to see what I’m talking about, I would take photos of the interior, but I asked prior and was told photography was not allowed.  (Should have brought my sketchbook).  

Jin Patisserie showcases 10 flavors of macarons!  You can buy a box of 8 for $12, or a box of 12 for $17.  The best part is you don’t have to buy it by the box; you can also buy it individually for $1.30 ea.  To be honest, I didn’t want to try every single flavor (or have to buy the entire box).  These macarons were smaller than the ones in Bottega Louie, but Jin Patisserie macaron size is what I’m used to making. 

David and I each chose a cake we wanted for ourselves.  Then, we decided to pick two macarons each.  For David, he wanted to try the ‘Sea Salt Caramel’ and the ‘Pistachio.’  I chose the ‘Ume’ and the ‘Yuzu.’  For my chosen cake, I spotted the “Guanaja” and next to the tag it says, ‘NEW!’  Or course I’m going to try something, NEW on their menu.  The description also stated that it was a 70% chocolate, I love any chocolate from 70% and above!  My first bite, mMm Mmm chocolate mousse with either a chocolate sponge cake or chocolate genoise cake at the bottom (very delicate and moist).  Reaching through the center, there was the monello cherries!  This cake reminds me of a similar cake David always buys me from San Luis Obispo (Vons – Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake), sweet memories.

As for David, he loves nutty flavors, so he chose the ‘Noisette’s Dream’ cake that also says, ‘NEW!’ on the tag!  His cake was candied & Mousseline Hazelnut.  As for drinks, we both love the description of their Peche Mignon Tea.  Hope you all enjoy the pictures!  I must say, Jin Patisserie is currently my favorite for macarons.  The bigger the group, the more items to taste!

Our Order! MmmMMm Peche Mignon Tea.. 

Guanaja (70% Chocolate, Monello Cherries)

Guanaja (1/2 way done!)

 Noisette's Dream (Candied & Mousseline Hazelnut)

Macarons!  Left to Right:  Yuzu, Pistachio, Ume, Sea Salt Caramel

85°C Bakery

85°C Bakery
Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center

2700 Alton Pkwy

Ste 123

Irvine, CA 92606

(December 27, 2010)

Everyone says, "this place is so far and the line is too long!"  Well, I must say, my dear friend Kathy took me here twice during the evening to try their sea salt coffee.  It was delicious, especially when you're about to drink the last sip of the coffee and you taste the salt that enhances the flavor of the coffee.  During the evening, nothing is left on the bread/bakery section.  This time, my fiance wanted to go there during the day and experience the hype of the awesomeness about the long wait and what is so special about this place? 

Once we found parking and approach the front of the bakery door, we see the LINE!  It was long and as soon as David and I are near the doorway, the guy stops and says, "Sorry, we'll stop here for now so the lines slow down."  As we were waiting, we were debating on whether to get a small tray together or to take a large tray together.  David and I end up taking a large tray each.  I think we went a little crazy, but we have to experience it all! 

Finally, the guy let us in.  We walked through the bread section and everything looks so fresh and smells wonderful!  There was a man that kept bringing fresh baked goods out and restocking the shelves.  As I turn around, I see a glass window where we can see the oven at work.  That portion was in construction the last time we visited.  I must say, there was at least 25 people working in the back of the kitchen.  Our total came out to $40.50 with two orders of the famous "Sea Salt Coffee."  I must say, do try their hot coffee, somehow, the cold one didn't taste as good this time around. 

On the other side of the shop near the hallway to the restroom, there is another glass window.  You can see that it's their chocolate room and the room where they assemble cakes.  I was watching the Chef working on chocolate molds that has been set and he was cutting it in triangular shapes as decorative motifs for the borders of the cakes, lovely!

Below are pictures of breads we purchased, no worries, we didn't eat them all, just some.  Hope you visit their bakery too!

Blueberry Bun w/ Cream Cheese filling 

Coffee Bread w/ Red Bean filling

Taro Roll w/ filling 

Chocolate Cake Toast

 Blueberry Spongecake 

Cherry Puff Pastry