Checking into Lodge Bread Company

 Lodge Bread Company

8532 West Pico

Los Angeles, CA 90035

The holidays were over, and it was time to take a week off. Katie could only take a few days off because she's been slammed at work, so we decided to make one of those days an LA day. I had the bright idea of visiting The Getty, which I had never been to. Katie had to drop some plans off at Children's Hospital LA, after which the rest of the day was ours. We left OC at 8 a.m. and reached LA an hour later, taking advantage of lighter-than-average traffic conditions. I picked Lodge Bread Company as our first food stop of the day. 

Lodge Bread Company came across my radar when I saw a picture of their cinnamon roll in a magazine. One glance was all it took for me to place them on my restaurant wishlist. That was a few years ago, and I waited for the perfect opportunity to finally make my pilgrimage to experience the colossal cinnamon rolls for myself. 

Lodge Bread Company, started in 2015, operates three locations, including this one on Pico Boulevard, Culver City, and Woodland Hills. It was started by Alex Phaneuf and Or Amsalam, who also ran the popular Hasiba, a hummus restaurant, out of this location before converting it into its current conceptualization. They also had the wildly beloved Full Proof Pizza, which had two spots operating but closed suddenly last year. 

We arrived at this tiny storefront at half past 10 on a Tuesday morning. There was plenty of street parking, and only a smattering of people wandered in during our stay. We ordered at the counter, and the food was brought to our table. There's enough seating for 12 people inside. They used to have a small patio in front, but it was not there when we visited. 

The one-page menu is divided into toasts, sandwiches, salads, and other items. The other items include the hummus and pita that were available when this used to be Hasiba. Prices here are modest, with only the Cobb salad going over the $20 price point. There's also a large selection of coffee, beverages, bread, and other baked goods for sale. Let's see what we had on part one of our LA day. 

First up, the Cinnamon Roll ($12.50) that brought us here. The first two pictures are of the one standing proudly on the counter. This massive brick of a cinnamon roll was much larger than any you could get at your local county fair. When we ordered this, they asked if we wanted the whole thing or half of it boxed up for later. I could have eaten all this, but we had a full day ahead of us and didn't want to crash while at The Getty. It was boxed up, and they also included plenty of the icing to be eaten the next few days at home. 

This was a very well-made cinnamon roll. The roll was sturdy, and the top had a good amount of cinnamon, which turned crunchy when heated. I wish the roll had more cinnamon running through it, which would have made it gooey. The abundance of the cream cheese frosting was a remedy for this. It was a light cream cheese frosting with a citrus tinge to it. It was delicious and elevated this cinnamon roll to even greater heights. 

Katie started her LA day with a light meal. The Avocado Toast ($14.50 plus $3 for an egg added) is one of five toast options on the Lodge Bread company menu. They use their country loaf bread as the base and then add a good amount of avocado, lemon, radish, extra virgin olive oil, and some cracked black pepper. Katie got her egg over hard, as she's not a fan of runny yolk. She feels this is the gold standard of avocado toasts she has consumed. Plenty of chunky avocado was seasoned just enough, and she enjoyed the inclusion of the radish, which gave this a little bite. 

Wanting something different, I got the Shakshuka ($15.50). This skillet dish came with stewed tomatoes, two eggs, herbs, salt, pepper, and bread for dipping. It came to the table scaldingly hot, so it took tremendous willpower for me to wait for it to cool down before digging in. Once cooled a bit, it was delicious. Online reviewers have commented that they felt this version was too sweet, but I found it mildly spicy, and I could detect the paprika rather clearly. The eggs were a great binding agent with the tomatoes. This came with plenty of their delicious bread, which almost had me buy a loaf immediately. The bread was an excellent tool for sopping up the rest of the shakshuka. 

Lodge Bread Company was all that it was cracked up to be. I'm thankful for that picture of the giant cinnamon roll I spied in the magazine that got us here. Our breakfast items were top-notch, and we wondered how great their sandwiches would be. I have my eye on the BLT and Pastrami Melt the next time we are here around lunchtime. We experienced good service this late morning and a very welcoming atmosphere. Lodge Bread Company was an excellent start to what we'd hoped would be a great day in Los Angeles. 

Out of five ranchos (because this restaurant sits on Pico Boulevard, which is named Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California before the US took over, and he had over half a million acres of ranchos in the mid-to-late 18th century), five being best and zero being worst, Lodge Bread Company gets 3.5 ranchos. 

For more information about Lodge Bread Company, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.lodgebread.com/