Los Angeles' Top Signature Desserts
Milky Bun
Afters Ice Cream
1265 E Green St.
Pasadena, CA 91106
www.aftersicecream.com
Afters Ice Cream is home to premium ice cream and the creators of the Milky Bun. The Milky Bun is their version of an ice cream sandwich and is made with a glazed or un-glazed donut, one flavor of their Vietnamese ice cream flavors and one free topping.
The Bananageddon
Jimmy's Famous American Tavern
1733 Ocean Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(424) 292-5222
www.j-fat.com
Offering regional American cuisine with an artisanal touch, Jimmy's Famous American Tavern was created to be a social gathering place that served great food and drinks. One of their signature desserts is the Bananageddon, a deconstructed Banana Cream Pie converted into an ice cream sundae. Serving two or more, the dessert is made up of fresh bananas, pastry cream, pecan blondie crumbles, butter pecan ice cream, salty caramel sauce, candied pecans, white chocolate and whipped cream.
Triple Berry Cake
Sweet Lady Jane
8360 Melrose Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(323) 653-7145
www.sweetladyjane.com
While dating Donald Lockhart, now her husband, Jane Lockhart would experiment with some simple desserts in her kitchen. Lockhart opened Sweet Lady Jane in 1988 and it has been an L.A. staple ever since. Her most popular cake is the Triple Berry Cake, which is a yellow butter cake filled with three layers of lightly sweetened whipped cream and layers of fresh raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. It is then frosted with whipped cream and decorated with buttercream vines.
Churros
barcito
403 W 12th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 415-1821
www.barcitola.com
A classic treat from barcito, these churros are handmade and fresh to order. The churros arrive with a double dose of dulce de leche, filled inside and served on a bed of the glaze, a perfect perfect crispy treat after a meal.
Cruller Donuts
Plan Check Kitchen + Bar
1401 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 857-1364
www.plancheck.com
Celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, Plan Check Kitchen + Bar offers several locations around Los Angeles. Plan Check serves a mashup of donuts and ice cream everyday via the team's signature cruller specials that were originally launched with the brand's first location on Sawtelle Boulevard. The crullers are comprised of pâte à choux dough formed into a circular shape, fried to order, and served with adventurous toppings, such as cereal milk, crystallized herbs, key lime cream and root beer froth.
Cinnaholic
2134 Sunset Blvd Suite E
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 844-3944
www.cinnaholic.com
Cinnaholic offers dairy and lactose-free, egg-free and cholesterol-free cinnamon rolls, created fresh in-house daily, with over 30 different frosting flavors and a variety of different toppings. The first layer of the Cookie Monster Roll is a thick spread of cream-cheese frosting, followed by a layer of the homemade cookie dough and finished with a layer of chocolate sauce.
Ten Layer Carrot Cake
Ocean Prime
9595 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(310) 859-4818
www.ocean-prime.com
Ocean Prime, a modern American seafood centric restaurant located in Beverly Hills, has a great play on the classic carrot cake dessert with their famed Ten Layer Carrot Cake. The cake features cream cheese icing and pineapple syrup, and ten layers of moist cake.
Vietnamese Coffee Pudding
Cassia
1314 7th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 393-6699
www.cassiala.com
Co-Pastry Chefs Zoe and Laurel Almerinda prepare French-inspired desserts that weave in Southeast Asian flavors to accompany Chef Bryant Ng's French-inspired plates that with Southeast Asian flavor profiles. A signature since day one, their Vietnamese Coffee Pudding is served in a little blue coffee cup, topped with fresh whipped cream and served with cookies.
Tres Leches Cake
Tallula's
118 Entrada Dr.
Santa Monica, CA 90402
(310) 526-0027
tallulasrestaurant.com
Tallula's is the latest addition to the Rustic Canyon Family of Restaurants where Chef/Partner Jeremy Fox's menu features ingredient-driven, rustic, Mexican comfort food and a dessert menu. Created from Rustic Canyon Family's Head Baker Zoe Nathan and Bakery Director of Operations, Laurel Almerinda, the menu offers an array of festive Latin desserts. One of the signatures is the Tres Leches Cake with honey, chamomile, and fresh market berries.
Floating Island
Kendall's Brasserie
135 N Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 972-7322
www.patinagroup.com
Located at the Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, Kendall's Brasserie is a modern, vibrant take on the traditional French brasserie. One of the signature desserts include the Floating Island with crème anglaise, poached meringue, candied almonds, and caramel sauce.
The Chocolate Rye Pie
Odys + Penelope
127 South La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-1033
www.odysandpenelope.com
Acclaimed husband and wife chef team Quinn and Karen Hatfield showcase their inventive, seasonal cuisine at Odys + Penelope. The Chocolate Rye Pie with peanut crumble and vanilla malted ice cream, is Karen Hatfield's signature dessert and is a mainstay on the menu. Breaking away from using traditional flours, she instead use rye for her crust which adds some nuttiness and is a great pairing with the chocolate.
Crown Cake
Joan's on Third
8350 W 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 655-2285
www.joansonthird.com
The trendy café/marketplace and vibrant epicurean emporium offers café-style seating and an abundant selection of gourmet goods, pastries and desserts. Perhaps the most iconic is Joan McNamara's Crown Cake, her take on a strawberry shortcake packed with fresh strawberries and whipped cream
Chasen's Banana Shortcake
Valerie Confections
3360 W 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(213) 739-8149
valerieconfections.com
To create Chasen's Banana Shortcake, Valerie Gordon researched the stories behind the dessert, as well as interviewing people who frequented Chasen's, the old-Hollywood restaurant in service for almost 60 years. The cake is a rum-laced shortcake filled with bananas and whipped cream with a banana sauce and chocolate sauce served on the side.
Brioche Donuts
Woodley Proper
16101 Ventura Blvd #245
Encino, California 91436
(818) 906-9775
www.woodleyproper.com
Pastry chef/owner Margarita Kallas-Lee serves up brioche donuts with powdered sugar and bergamot whipped cream at Woodley Proper. As with all of her dessert inventions, nostalgia is the key driving force behind each creation. For this dessert, she took the idea of tea and crumpets with her spin incorporating bergamot into the whipped cream and making crispy, fluffy, sweet and savory donuts. To top them off, Kallas-Lee dusts the donuts with powdered sugar for a nod to fresh beignets.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Cake
Charcoal Venice
425 Washington Blvd.
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 751-6794
www.charcoalvenice.com
A riff off his childhood favorite candies, Reese's and Crunch bars, Chef Josiah Citrin presents the Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Cake. Appearing, in one way or another, on his menus at each of his restaurants, the dessert combines the simple, perfect flavor combination of peanut butter and chocolate in Reese's peanut butter cups with the added crunchy texture of the Crunch bar.
Dolla Dolla Bills Y'all
Barton G
861 N La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 388-1888
www.bartong.com
Barton G shocks and awes its guests constantly through design and imaginative menu items like their Dolla Dolla Bills Y'all themed dessert. This dessert is brought to the table by a waiter wearing an apron and wielding mask who then torches the white chocolate 'gold bar', exposing the rich graham cracker crusted ganache tart with meringue and dulce de leche served with chocolate feuilletine golden nitro ice cream nuggets on the side.
Beignets
Cliff's Edge
3626 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 666-6116
www.cliffsedgecafe.com
Chef Michael Bryant presents his classic, light and refreshing fluffy Beignets in this charming Silver Lake space. The desserts are served with a bright, tangy passion fruit curd that perfectly balances out a creamy Crème Anglaise and a sweet Dulce de Leche.
Strawberries and Cream
71 Above
633 W. 5th Street, 71st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 712-2683
www.71above.com
71 Above presents unobstructed views and high-end cuisine on the 71st floor of the U.S. Bank Tower building. Pastry chef Gregory Baumgartner takes the idea of a classic Strawberries and Cream, and shakes it up to dazzling effect and adds the seasonality of ingredients in California into a dessert that screams summer. An homage to your past, Strawberries and Cream is made with strawberry sorbet and Granita, crème Anglaise, tapioca, fennel, balsamic and cream cheese.
Fruity Pebble Sundae
Ridges Churro Bar
The dessert that put Ridges Churro Bar on the map is their original Fruity Pebble Sundae. Started back in 2015, owners of Ridges Churro Bar are husband and wife James and Nancy, wanted to create and take the classic cinnamon sugar churro to a whole other level, creating a social media sensation. The churro is covered in a fruity pebble flavor and is be paired with a cup of vanilla ice cream creating their Fruity Pebble Sundae.
The Fluffernutter
Black Market Liquor and Bar
11915 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 446-2533
blackmarketliquorbar.com
The Fluffernutter is composed of two slices of brioche bread loaded with peanut butter, banana slices, and marshmallow fluff that is then battered, coated in panko bread crumbs and is deep-fried. It is served whole to allow the customer to cut into it and watch the marshmallow fluff ooze out of the sandwich before their eyes. Executive Chef Antonia Lofaso presents this dish as an ode to her Mom even though she wasn't allowed to have this dish as a child.
Mille Feuille
Avec Nous
Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills
9291 Burton Way
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 860-8660
www.avecnous.com
The French restaurant located on the lobby floor of Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills serves a contemporary take on the classic French bistro in a hip St. Tropez vibe. With a modern twist on the classic Parisian Mille-feuille (thousand leaves) dessert, Avec Nous presents Mille Feuille. Layers of pressed puff pastry are imbedded with cocoa nibs, and the mousse is made with Caramelia, a salted caramel milk chocolate.
Frozen Strawberry Torte
Bestia
2121 E 7th Pl.
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 514-5724
www.bestiala.com
At Bestia, Menashe and Gergis work alongside each other to create a true husband and wife team in a contemporary meets industrial Italian restaurant. Fcusing on a from-scratch approach and serving a multi-regional rustic Italian menu, one stand out dessert is their Frozen Strawberry Torte: butter cake, strawberry buttermilk, strawberry sorbet and dulce de leche.
Coconut Budino
The Ponte
8265 West Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 746-5130
www.thepontela.com
At Scott Conant's The Ponte, Pastry Chef Betty Park recently debuted a Coconut Budino, which consists of a coconut custard base, a spiced Mexican hot chocolate ganache layer, whipped cream and a sprinkle of sea salt to balance the sweetness of the dish. The budino is garnished with a spiced chocolate meringue that is finished with thin shavings of Mexican chocolate.
Profiteroles
Bouchon Bistro
235 N Canon Dr, 2nd Floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 271-9910
www.thomaskeller.com
Bouchon's classic Profiteroles are made with vanilla ice cream in the center of a single cream puff (pâte à choux). Your server slowly pours the warm Valrhona chocolate sauce on top, making for a delicious dessert!
Chocolate éclair
Pitchoun! Bakery
545 S Olive St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 689-3240
www.pitchounbakery.com
Pitchoun!, which translates to "kiddo!", is a family-owned French bakery and pastry shop that brings the quintessential French dining experience to the heart of DTLA. Directly opposite Pershing Square indulge on their signature Chocolate éclair which is filled with chocolate pastry cream and topped with homemade chocolate frosting.
Salted Caramel Bread Pudding
Water Grill
1401 Ocean Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 394-5669
www.watergrill.com
Water Grill serves a wide range of high quality seafood dishes. After a fresh catch, try the Salted Caramel Bread Pudding, which is made with croissants and topped with Water Grill's housemade salted caramel ice cream that melts down the sides of the bread pudding.
Frozen Oreo Cookie Custard
Hache LA
3319 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 928-2963
www.hachela.com
Chef Mick Schepers wanted to throwback to the original soft serve stands, so he created a real Wisconsin frozen custard adding an all-American favorite, Oreos, to create a classic custard that everyone loves. Vanilla custard is made in house and mixed with Oreos. It is then topped with homemade whipped cream and Oreo crumble.
Profiteroles
Church & State
1850 Industrial St.
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 405-1434
churchandstatebistro.com
Chef Tony Esnault wanted to create a playful spin on the traditional French Classic with this dessert choice at Church & State. The Profiteroles here are a take on the cream puff, and the filled pastry puff is accompanied with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce.
Fudge Brownie
Gracias Madre
8905 Melrose Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(323) 978-2170
www.graciasmadreweho.com
West Hollywood's mecca for plant-based Mexican fare has a food and drink menu inspired by the kitchens of Mexico sourced from locally grown organic ingredients. A guest favorite, their Fudge Brownie is gluten-free, cholesterol-free and served with coconut bacon, mezcal caramel and coconut whipped cream.
Honey-Espresso Sticky Bun
Nighthawk: Breakfast Bar
417 Washington Blvd.
Venice, CA 90292
(424) 835-4556
nighthawkrestaurants.com
Nighthawk: Breakfast Bar is a restaurant concept by Jeremy Fall, serving late night breakfast in a lively bar setting with a 90's hip hop soundtrack. Along with breakfast food and alcoholic coffee drinks, try their Honey-Espresso Sticky Bun: spiced rum caramel, vanilla bean ice cream, toasted pecans.
Brandy Alexander
Westbound
300 S Santa Fe Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 262-9291
www.westbounddtla.com
DTLA's Arts District bar and eatery presents elevated bar snacks by Chef Gary Nguyen and a travel-inspired cocktail menu from Head Bartender Dee Ann Quinones. Finish off your dinner with their popular Brandy Alexander made with Copper and Kings Brandy, Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao, and Coolhaus' Tahitian Bean Vanilla Ice Cream.
Coffee Toffee Pudding
Baran's 2239
502 Pacific Coast Hwy
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
(424) 247-8468
www.barans2239.com
In Hermosa Beach, owners and brothers Jonathan and Jason Baran invite locals and visitors to their casual American fine dining restaurant, Baran's 2239. Located just a few blocks from the ocean, try their changing dessert/beer paring option or their Coffee Toffee Pudding, which is served in a mug is topped with pecans and made with coffee honey cream.
Movie Theater Sundae
Beauty & Essex Los Angeles
1615 Cahuenga Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 676-8880
www.beautyandessex.com
Beauty & Essex features a dessert created by pastry chef Lauren Amedure called the Movie Theater Sundae. The dessert is a vision on everything for a movie experience. The Movie Theater Sundae is comprised of peanut butter pretzels, fudge brownie bits, popcorn ice cream, brown butter caramel and cracker jack type popcorn brittle.
Brick Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches
Poke Me
1244 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(323) 815-1566
www.pokeme.net
Poke Me's Brick Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches are the latest dessert trend with offerings ranging from green tea, vanilla, strawberry and cappuccino.
Butterscotch Budino Maldon
Pizzeria Mozza
641 N Highland Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 297-0101
www.pizzeriamozza.com
Owned and operated by Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Nancy Silverton, the casual hot-spot serves crisp pizzas, paninis, and specials that rotate through the week. Desserts include their Butterscotch Budino Maldon which includes dark brown sugar, kosher salt, heavy cream, milk, egg, butter, dark rum, crème fraîche, fleur de sel, caramel sauce and served with rosemary-pine nut cookies.
Chocolate Mousse Bar
Redbird
114 E 2nd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 788-1191
www.redbird.la
Chef Neal Fraser and Amy Knoll Fraser's flagship restaurant Redbird is located inside the former rectory building of Vibiana in DTLA. Pastry chef Kasra Ajdari presents guests a Chocolate Mousse Bar made of praline and passion fruit sorbet.
Smore's
Rose Café
220 Rose Ave.
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 399-0711
www.rosecafevenice.com
Rose Café has been serving locals and travelers alike since 1979 in the heart of Venice. Chef Jason Neroni's menu focuses on local Southern California cuisine, while pastry chef Joshua Graves prepares desserts like their Smore's which is comprised of: milk chocolate cremeux, caramelized puff pastry, smoked mallow, honey and chocolate ice cream.
