Where to Find the Best Artisan Bread in Los Angeles

Israeli born baker Ran Zimon was one of the early adapters to the Arts District. His Bread Lounge is an industrial space with a glass-fronted kitchen, packed shelves and pastry case, and relaxed back patio. Zimon makes over 10 different breads to sell as loaves and to use for sandwiches, including classics like baguette, ciabatta, multi-grain, and brioche. Bread Lounge also excels with Mediterranean breads like fig and walnut, Kalamata olive “stick” with za’atar, and sunflower poppy seed. On Fridays, you can even score challah.

Zack Hall worked at high-profile L.A. establishments like Proof Bakery and The Eveleigh before staging at Portland bakeries like Little T American Baker and Roman Candle. He also scoured Scandinavia. Now he parks a bread cart near Eggslut in bustling Grand Central Market. Hall favors simplicity, traditional European methods, and long fermentation to produce eight different breads. Current offerings include baguette, country, seeded, Alpine brot, Danish rye, brioche, and miche, Hall is particularly proud of his whole wheat levain, which is made in homage to the golden age of French bread, between WWI and WWII. This loaf contains only three ingredients - flour, water, and salt – and supports Pasadena-based Grist & Toll millworks.

This bakery from The Ivy owners Richard Irving and Lynn Von Kersting resides near Alexander Hamilton High School in L.A.’s South Robertson neighborhood, aka SoRo. The space features a mural of Capri, the island of Sun, and sells five different breads. Dolce Isola’s roster ranges from baguette and sourdough to more deluxe brioche and fig, apricot and pecan brioche. You can also find The Ivy’s signature anadama bread, a New England-style wheat bread baked with wheat flour, molasses and cornmeal that the owners serve with butter to start at each meal at either The Ivy or Ivy at the Shore.

Executive chef Travis Lett and his merry band of Venetians built on the success of Gjelina and Gjelina Take Away with this sign-free bakery, café, deli, and coffee bar on a side street across from Gold’s Gym. Lett oversees head Baker Jose Mateo and GM Greg Blanc, who produce loaves like sourdough, pumpernickel, olive, hemp nori whole wheat, seeded rye, sprouted rye, and huge miche rounds. There’s even bread made with dried fruits like apricots, raisins, figs and prunes. Bonus: most breads are available as half loaves.

This bakery from Rasmus Lee dates to 2009 in downtown’s South Park. The contemporary space fuses “Glass, Concrete, and Stone,” just like the David Byrne song, and promises a “true taste of the Danish.” Hygge, which is Denmark’s answer to La Dolce Vita, displays the good life in loaves in French baguettes, three-grain bread, Mediterranean bread, and rye made with sourdough, rye flour and malt. At lunch, you’ll also find focaccia pizza and sandwiches made with ciabatta (aka “Italian bread”).

Chef Suzanne Goin and business partner Caroline Styne have been working with baker Nathan Dakdouk since 2008 to supply AOC, Lucques, and Tavern with bread. Larder Baking Company is the byproduct, which now supplies wholesale clients as well. Dakdouk, a native of Venezuela, has overseen the production of over 20 different breads, including textbook sourdough, multi-grain, and ciabatta, plus unconventional offerings like blueberry boule and cranberry pecan batard. In all cases, Dakdouk preaches “the old fashioned way,” eschewing commercial yeast in favor of grape-fueled wild yeast and dough that ferments for 20-30 hours before baking. Larder Baking Company sells bread at Tavern in Brentwood and The Larder at Burton Way in Beverly Hills.

Or Amsalam and Alex Phaneuf, who previously worked together at Goldie’s, debuted in west Culver City to end 2015. Their space houses a grey tile counter and dark wood banquette with cream-colored tables. They bake five kinds of sourdough bread in plain view, some designated for toast, others designed to travel home. Country, seeded, whole wheat, olive, and Khorasan are all fermented for 28-29 hours. Khorasan is made with a nutty ancient Middle Eastern grain - kamut - similar to spelt. Bread’s best friend, butter, is made in-house with Petaluma dairy and yogurt yeast and topped with Maldon sea salt.

This Santa Monica café and bakery from Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb is a draw for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Their bakery fuels in-house menu items, though you can easily just swing by the counter for a loaf to go from Nathan and longtime culinary lieutenant Laurel Almerinda, who both oversee the bread program. Options include a sourdough-like country loaf, sunflower and rye, multi-grain, fruit and nut, ciabatta, brioche, and baguette. A smaller selection is available at sister café, Huckleberry.

Few establishments are as ambitious as The Rose, a business on the Venice border that dates to 1979 and received retooling from Sprout Restaurant Group and chef Jason Neroni. A big part of the renovation involves the bakery. Pastry Chef Jacob Fraijo and his team of three bakers now produce a serious bread spread, including baguettes, pain de Campagne, pain au olive, ciabatta, dark rye, and brioche. The common thread for these French leaning, European-style breads is a base of organic, whole-grain flours.

This brick-fronted bakery from Joseph Abrakjian resides on a sleepy corner of north Pasadena. The airy café with yellow and purple walls has quickly become a destination for breads crafted with organic, house-milled flour, water, sea salt, and natural levain. Dough ferments for 18-24 hours, leading to sourdough loaves that take different forms. Breads utilize ancient grains like kamut, farro, and spelt. Seed also bolsters loaves with ingredients like walnuts, Kalamata olives, and cranberries.