cognoscenti coffee and proof bakery baked goods to feed the soul

yeekai lim's cognoscenti coffee was a pop-up that roamed no more when he finally settled his coffee talents at proof bakery in atwater village. if you want to wrap your cold hands around a good cup of joe that ranges in price from $2-$4, then i suggest you make your way to the eastside and nestle yourself in this stellar bakery with a plate of baked goods as well as a cup of coffee by cog...of course.

the scene around the cups of coffee is no slouch either. proof bakery in atwater village boasts some rather awesome baked good and sandwiches for you to nibble on as you shoot the breeze with your buds. check out this roasted cauliflower and kale sandwich ($7) in its super slender, crusty baguette, and tasty supermodel form. delicious AND pretty to look at.

the roasted pepper, feta, and olives sandwich ($7) was just as yummy. i loved the the pops of olives in every bite.

without a doubt, the baked goods are amazing here. this delicious persimmon scone ($3) was dense with bursts of persimmon chunks.

the chocolate croissant ($3.50) was decadent with a hint of chocolate oozing out. what a tease when you know just one big bite will take you right to its chocolatey center.

the almond croissant ($4) was probably my favorite at proof. flakey, soft, with bits of almond slivers sprinkled with powdered sugar...what's not to love about it?!

the salted chocolate chip cookie ($2) was to die for as well. i've always loved, and always will love, the hint of salt in my sweets. this cookie by far was a sophisticated bite for any cookie monster.

i definitely feel lucky to live in silverlake and to have access to so many great, surrounding neighborhoods. just a short little drive takes me to proof bakery goods and cognoscenti coffee, a luxury any day of the week especially when one needs a coffee break badly. and trust me, when i'm not on vacation, i need coffee breaks really, really, badly.

Proof Bakery
Cognoscenti Coffee
3156 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 664-8633
http://proofbakeryla.com/

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

1.5 viets at the viet noodle bar

if you don't pay for $10 sammiches, then i sure as heck don't pay for $10 pho....until my friend made me do it. it was not by gunpoint that i went, though her sweet voice can definitely pierce my soul like a gunshot through my heart. yes, she's so nice that i get guilted into doing things, like eating at viet noodle bar in atwater heifing down $10 pho. man, she's good.

so we go and i see why it might be $10 for a bowl of pho ga (chicken pho). brick walls cost more than $10 right?

and long communal tables with lots of chairs cost more than $10 right? the environment looks cool, hip, and ready to take advantage of your wallet, it really does.

we started with the jackfruit appetizer. i wanted to try this dish because i always think of sweet yellow jackfruit in vietnamese che (a sweet dessert...love that stuff!) and was curious what a savory version might taste like. when the plate came out, i immediately nabbed a piece of the jackfruit which tasted blanched. the flavors of this dish were actually sourced from the other items cooked with it such as the fried shallots, tofu pieces, and shitake mushrooms. the jackfruit did not have much of a taste presence at all which was a shame...what a misleading name for the appetizer.

you scoop the jackfruit concoction with a piece of the black sesame rice cracker. after a few scoops, i gave up because it was neither innovative nor mind blowing. this belly doesn't need more junk. meh.

here's the $10 bowl of pho ga which my friend loved and i felt compelled to order. i rarely eat pho ga outside of my momma's home because she's a fantabulous vietnamese cook so when i dipped my chopsticks in, i was ready to unload tons of criticism.....

but i didn't. whut?! first off, the noodles were just perfect. i found out from my friend, who is a viet noodle bar groupie, that the owner had spent 5 years in vietnam learning how to make these pho noodles from scratch. now THAT is dedication to your craft. the soup base was sweet and clear which is always a good sign and the chicken pieces were tender. it was simple and delicious and did not disappoint. yum!

although i probably wouldn't come back for another $10 bowl of this pho ga because i have a cute, older, round vietnamese woman cooking for me for free, i don't think this place is a bad place to turn to AT ALL for some pho ga....as long as you don't mind paying $10 for it of course.

Viet Noodle Bar
3133 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 906-1575

price: $$
verdict: tasty, try it!

jessica is iron chef!

Jessica Koslow (Guest Chef)
Canele
3219 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 666-7133
www.canele-la.com/

price: $$$
verdict: omg, i love it!

once in a while, you discover someone you know who can cook fantabulously and all you can do after that is camp by their door, hoping that you will get invited over for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, dessert...heck, all of it!

hey jessica! i know you! now i know you can cook! let me in *knock, knock, knock.* *crickets*

jessica koslow, fellow silverlaker and blogger (of eatsipchew.com) was the guest chef at canele last night.

her tasting menu was outright delicious and thoughtful, utilizing locally sourced produce and meat. if pictures are worth a thousand words, then allow me to communicate to you my feelings about what i ate last night through my pics.

first course, cavolo nero salad with preserved meyer lemons and fingerling potatoes. the sourness of the preserved lemon dressing reminded me of my grandma and her jars of pickled lemons. delicious, tangy, tart taste but with a good punch to the tastebuds.

before.

after.

the second course was handmade poppy seed pappardelle with braised lamb and wild mushrooms in porter ragu. the pappardelle was delightful and oh so addicting! i had fleeting thoughts of a poppy seed pappardelle ribbon that kept going on forever like the yellow brick road except that at the end of this pappardelle ribbon is my big ole mouth and not a con artist of a wizard. the lamb was oh so so tender too. delicious.

before.

after.

the last course, the dessert, made my belly stretch like no other! a valrhona 66% caribe torino with homemade vanilla bean ice cream and pumpkin seed brittle. holy crap i should have worn a skirt and not my pants. the jeans is going to get tight after this one!

still working on it girl, still working on it. decadent chocolate with delicate vanilla ice cream. and that brittle, man it blew my mind. i loved it and i was told by our server that i got "extra" brittle in mine. woot woot! my dining partner looked at me with jealous eyes....and did i share the extra brittle? NOPE. thanks jessica!

done. pulverized. ready to roll home.

jessica did a great job with her tasting menu and canele is a sweet little space to enjoy good food. *sigh as i rub my belly*

can you meet me at canele?

Canele
3219 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 666-7133
www.canele-la.com/

price: $$
verdict: tasty, try it!

i have a group of friends that i've known since undergrad at ucla...holy moly ancient memories! many, MANY years later, we are still good friends and although our lives are filled to the brim with obligations that makes hanging out a juggling act of busy calendars, we still find the time to reconvene once in a while to enjoy each other's company. not too long ago, i met up with them for brunch at canele in atwater village. i've heard many lovely stories about this lovely place so it seemed appropriate to have a casual yet intimate brunch there with my dear friends and their significant others. canele is rather small, but the food is suppose to be explosive. well, that was the word on the street anyways.

ooohhh, i like this sign! it's like taco bell's "fourth meal" but chic-er.

every good wino knows that a day should start off with some alcohol masked in oj. here's a nice glass of mimosa to wet my lips. yum!

i ordered the duck hash with fried egg. i thought the duck meat was a bit dry. the runny duck yolk did not do much to moisten this dish up. it's like putting water on hay...all you'll get is wet hay. so putting a yolk on dry duck meat...well, you know where i'm heading with that thought. though pretty to look at, i wouldn't order this again.

i had to split an order of their thick slabs of french toast with mascarpone and fig sauce. no way i was going to leave canele without trying some of those! mmmm...good! the french toast was dense and the sweetness of the figs paired nicely with the richness of the toast and reminded me of a nice summery day at the farmer's market. but to eat more than one slice was tough for the waistband.

anyways, good times with good friends filled with convo about house maintenance, babies growing in bellies, and how to cheat a stripper with a ripped up dollar. yep, it was hilarious.

a vegetarian taco...oxy moron?

Hugo's Tacos
3300 Glendale Blvd
Atwater Village, CA 90039
(323) 664-9400
http://www.hugostacos.com/

price: $
verdict: tasty, try it!

hugo's tacos had an all out free food invitational for two hours when they first opened. the manager that worked the lines said it was for "practice." i guess they are training their employees at this new site since hugo's have multiple locations and the one in atwater village is a new addition. my sis and i booked ass to atwater village for some free eats! oh yea!

what makes them stand out from the other taco stands are their organic and vegetarian options. i got the torta ahogada which was phenomenal. the ahogada is a sandwich filled with organic white beans, guac, tomatoes, onions, some kind of mayo, and your pick of meats. i got the carne...never can go wrong with carne. the whole torta is then glazed with this sweet chipotle sauce and grilled to give the bread a nice sweet crust. yummmm. and their horchata was pretty tasty, too. not too sweet. overall pretty delicious. and because this entire meal was FREE, it was EXTRA DELICIOUS.

and i don't understand why people are so pissed about this place, other than the fact that some white guy is trying to make tacos. look, don't think of it as authentic mexican food. think of it as a place you go to when you want to eat organic that looks like a taco.

carne asada nachos with white beans

torta ahogada with a honey chipolte glaze.