Dramatic clouds overhead as we head out to Los Feliz for breakfast...
Passing by the entrance to Griffith Park...
I liked seeing the super old trees lining the streets as well as the older apartments.
Statue of Griffith below (history mentioned in a previous post about Griffith Observatory from March 2014)...
Twenty40 is a fairly new bakery on Hillhurst Ave in the Los Feliz neighborhood. It replaced San Sui, a rustic Japanese restaurant. In fact, the old signage is still there and you wouldn't know that Twenty40 is even here. There is a tiny parking lot in the back with room for maybe four or five cars. We took the last spot. The other cars were probably the workers. There is also street parking and since it was pretty early in the morning, we could have probably parked on the street if we wanted to.
The faded San Sui sign.
They opened at 8 am and we waited a few minutes before walking in. We saw the head baker/owner outside talking to a customer and she invited us inside.
Menu board:
It smelled so good inside and obviously, their pastries were baked fresh that morning. Just know that I wanted to get one of EACH. We damn near did. There were a few specific items I wanted us to try out.
We sat outside to enjoy the natural light. There were tables inside but they were getting filled up, even that early in the morning. One big plus was that they played music from the 80's, such as Depeche Mode, New Order, Billy Idol, and such. Good taste I must say.
Bert's macchiato proper:
Our box of flaky and carby goodness:
And now on plates.
One of the savory pastries I wanted was this, the Bacon and gruyere fougasse, a flatbread hailing from Provence. It had a nice chew and was served warm. This was one of our favorite bites that morning.
They also had kouign amann which we had to try. It was on the smallish side but it was just as well because this was quite rich, flaky and buttery with a delightful sugary crunch on the top layer. I should have bought more.
Another one of our favorites was the bacon and cheese croissant which Bert really enjoyed. Crisp, flaky layers. Although it had similar ingredients to the fougasse, the breads themselves were so different in taste and texture. Both were fantastic.
TC chose this, the tomato and goat cheese croissant. Looks pretty and tasted as good as it looked, according to the teen. I didn't have any since it had stanky goat cheese in there. I like this shape of pastry. Cream Pan executes this shape but theirs are filled with fruit and cream cheese.
TC also chose the birthday cake macaron - not very breakfast like but hey. I was actually surprised she wanted this. Lately, she's been refraining from sweets because of sports. She really liked the flavor. As for me, I don't really like 'birthday cake flavor' anything.
(my man hand, not TC's)
In addition to the fougasse, another item I saw on their IG was a pastry called bostock, which is day old brioche soaked in simple syrup and topped with frangipane almond cream, and in this case topped with actual almonds and berry jam. OMG. Just look at this.
This was one of the best pastries I'd ever tasted. I think I just may make my own version for Christmas Eve snack or even New Year's Day breakfast. Plus, frangipane. You can't go wrong with that.
Articles:
"McCall's team unveils Twenty40 Coffee Shop in Los Feliz" LA Eater April 13, 2016
"Don't miss the fougasse at McCall's new pastry shop in Los Feliz" LA Weekly, April 22, 2016
"Twenty40" intheloupe
Twenty40
2040 Hillhurst Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 660-3868
fb page + reviews from you know where & foursquare
Our breakast pastries here were amazing with both a mix of savory and sweet. The owner is really nice as well as the other ladies who work here. Bert's coffee was pretty strong and liked it well enough. Coffee for me would be later this morning. If we ever go back to LA, we definitely need to stop here again.
In the same neighborhood was one of the most photographed and filmed high schools in Los Angeles, or dare I say, the U.S. itself...
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