Los Angeles homecoming is approaching!

Each summer, I say goodbye to Los Angeles and live in the high desert for around three months for work.  During this period, I presume Los Angeles bakers see their sales go down significantly.  Perhaps some even think to themselves, "Kristin, you never call, you never write." Well rest assured, after a little vacation, I will be back in Los Angeles soon and ready to taste and blog devotedly about everything you have to offer.  I also plan to give some attention to my severely neglected oven, which I have not baked in for far too long.

Before going out of town for my annual September vacation, I got a head start on my approaching homecoming by spending a few days moving my life back to LA.  And even more exciting than not living out of a suitcase was my first post-high-desert late night bakery visit: a spontaneous stop at Figaro in Los Feliz.  

It turns out that if you're aching to go to Paris (which is most of the time, for me), you can come here to enjoy something buttery while also overhearing real French people charmingly discuss things in their native tongue.  And even better, Figaro stays open until 10:30 most days and 11 pm Friday and Saturday.  With these hours, The Great American Bakery Hunt can add Figaro to the list of late night LA dessert spots in our ongoing investigation of LA's late night dessert shortage.  (If I wanted to be truly sensationalistic, I might even call it a crisis.)

In the picture above,  you can see Figaro's powdered sugar-dusted butter cookie with jam in the center.  However, instead of enjoying this cookie among the French conversationalists, I enjoyed it back at a cozy LA apartment paired with a Pannepøt, a Belgian beer brewed by De Struise Brouwers.


Nothing says perfect LA homecoming like cookies and craft beer.  Readers, have you also had a busy summer?  Ring in the new fall by making friends with your oven again.  Bake a little, drink a little craft beer, and enjoy the leaves changing-- I've heard rumors that leaves do this in other parts of the world, although I am personally surrounded by palm trees.  Whatever your landscape situation, Happy Fall!

Favorite late night meals in LA

If you're like me, you enjoy a good late night meal followed by some dessert.  And while I love LA, LA is no New York when it comes to finding late night eats.


If you're looking for a late night LA meal on the west side, consider wandering over to Santa Monica's Musha.  Musha's late night Japanese comfort food is always reliable, served with a smile, and delicious.  And if you're lucky, Izzy's deli will still have some black and white cookies for sale when you're ready to hunt down some late night dessert.

Late night Los Angeles desserts: an ongoing investigation

Some things in life are inevitable. This includes dessert cravings that always strike after most bakeries have closed their doors for the night. It's a most unfortunate situation to find yourself in: perhaps it's 10 pm after a late dinner, and you're determined to take the edge off by satisfying that sweet tooth of yours. But everywhere you look, it's closed doors and mounting frustration. You think to yourself, "This is America. What kind of a country do I live in if I can't even get a quality piece of pie or chocolate chip cookie right now?"

But not all American city-dwellers are plagued by these night owl woes. While bakery hunters in New York are spoiled by an abundance of late night options (including cocktails & cupcakes sold by nocturnal bakery hunting-savvy establishments), Los Angeles seems to offer few late night dessert options. If I had the resources, I'd put an end to this madness. With a little political clout, I'd be able to tie public transportation initiatives to late-night bakery reform and we'd all be happier, greener, and more sugar-high Angelenos.

But until then, I'll be searching for late-night bakery hunting opportunities and will not rest until I find them. This is a work in progress at The Great American Bakery Hunt, so we'd appreciate any advice you can offer. (Please consider the baked good that will truly satisfy the late-night craving, all things fresh and worth savoring. Packaged apple strudels from the 7-11 don't count.)

The late night baked good timeline of Los Angeles seems limited to establishments that still close around 10 or 11 pm, including Mani's on Fairfax, Crumbs, & Urth Cafe.

But let's not forget the longtime LA landmark Diddy Riese. Simple, cheap, and undeniably appealing, you can snag a giant ice cream cookie sandwich for only $1.50 until 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays (12 pm the rest of the week.) You'll have to make it to Westwood Village at the end of your night to get one, and brave horrific parking scenarios to access these treats. But let's face it, there's nothing like reliving those college years via people-watching UCLA undergrads while butter pecan ice cream oozes out of your chocolate chip walnut sandwich and down your arm.

But let's just assume you've passed the 10 pm, 11 pm, 12 pm, or 1 am cutoff. Your heart starts to sink and desperation approaches. The bright yellow light of Denny's starts to beckon you, but you know their Oreo cheesecake will sit unsatisfactorily in your stomach, crushing your dessert dreams like a cartoon anvil. You consider buying a candy bar from the 24 hour grocery store and calling it a day, but it feels like giving up. Luckily, you've got until at least 2 am before you have to raise the white flag and sulk to your bed in defeat, nursing a sugar packet. So you head to Swingers, the late night diner establishment: You wouldn't expect it, but their butter pecan cupcake has the power to speak straight to your late-night baked-good lovin' heart (depending on the location, Swingers is open most nights until between 2 am & 4 am.)

A Special Note to our Readers: This is a part of our ongoing investigation into the void of late-night bakeries in Los Angeles. Want to help support the cause for late-night baked goods in our fair city? Send us some tips and we'll spread the word! Write your local Congressman! More importantly, always keep some homemade cookie dough in the freezer for nights when the craving hits hard.

Late night bakery hunting

For any nocturnal bakery hunters out there, finding desserts after 7 pm or so can sometimes pose a daunting challenge. Of course, there are restaurants open past 7 pm that include desserts on the menu-- but all too often the dessert is secondary to the meal itself, an afterthought. Quality late-night desserts are a rare treasure. While Los Angeles does have its 24-hour bakery gems (take our landmark Canter's Deli as an example), I found New York to be a much friendlier city to late-night dessert junkies-- Not only were bakeries open late, but other late night business owners were wise to the bakery-lover's moonlit sugar cravings: several bars featured dessert cases with the cupcakes and sugary delights that dreams are made of. I only wish their West Coast counterparts would learn.

So if you find yourself with a quasi-late-night hankering for some baked goods and you're wandering the streets of Santa Monica, take a gander at the display case over on Main Street at Urth Caffe. Urth Caffe has a generous selection of desserts including cheesecakes, mini-pies, cakes, and fruit tarts, with the extended business hours of a coffeehouse. Urth Caffe's hours are not that late, but they certainly do the trick. While the prices are high in this trendy organic latte sippin' scene, their desserts are so darn good I cannot complain too much: try the peach pie, the pistachio strawberry tart, the berry tart, the pecan pie...I've tried many of their goodies over my first few months on Santa Monica, and I've rarely been disappointed.

If anyone else has any good late night Los Angeles dessert tips, please call The Great American Bakery Hunt late night dessert hotline. Night owls need bakeries too.