Sycamore Kitchen: Hatfield Pastries Half Price Starting 4:30pm Daily!

Hatfield's, the restaurant, has been on my To Do list for forever, yet somehow I still haven't made it there.

But just down the street, in a far more casual, laid back "urban bakery-eatery" by the same power-couple-chefs Quinn and Karen Hatfield, I could pop in for a quick, affordable bite.

The space is industrial-rustic, which does give it a 'colder' vibe even in the perpetual SoCal sun on the patio - not a soothing place to linger for hours chatting with friends or people watching, but a comfortable enough spot to grab quick pastries and coffee.

Last week, on a Saturday afternoon, I stopped by close to closing due to sheer laziness - which will no doubt be repeated many times in future since it was rewarded by a fantastic deal!  Apparently, starting at 4:30pm every day that Sycamore Kitchen is open, all their pastries are 50% off til closing (5pm).  Makes sense as a quality control measure, as the pastries won't keep til the next day anyway.

So, I kicked off with a Oatmeal Brown Butter Scone ($3 regularly) , and an Apple Galette washed down with a glass of  Vanilla Cafecito ($3.75).

I had actually been looking forward to trying the sour cherry buttermilk scone, and settled for the oatmeal brown butter only because they were out of the sour cherry one - I should know by now not to settle for substitutes, but the oatmeal scone was too grainy in texture for me.  The apple galette was tasty, but not as buttery and flaky as the foodgasm-inducing ones at Chaumont.

As I was headed to San Antonio the next day for work, and foresaw lots of heavy Tex Mex in my future, I decided to temper all the carbs with a pay-it-forward detox Market Salad ($13). 

Sycamore Kitchen is known for their pastries, but since I only had a day in LA between two almost back to back business trips, I decided to give the salad a try.  It came in a giant bowl with pears, apples, golden beets, mix of leafs - I loved the taste of every element, which were farmers market fresh - except for the parsley which added a slightly overly pungent herby flavor.

But because I couldn't pass up the 50% off deal, and knowing it would be slim pickings the next day at LAX for gourmet pastries - I stocked up on the signature Salted Caramel Pecan Babka Roll ($3.50), and two mini Brown Butter Date Mini-Bundt Cakes ($2.75 regularly)

The babka is much lauded across the board by critics and blogs as far as I'm aware, but it was much too heavy of a sugar bomb for me - I am a much bigger fan of the lighter, more subtly sweet mini-bundts. 

All in all, the pastries were not mind-blowing, but very good for the price (and especially after 4:30!) and I will be back to try other things from the extensive pastry case next time I'm in the neighborhood!

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 5 bites  
Presentation - 5 bites
Originality - 5 bites
Ambience -  4 stars
Service - 5 stars
Overall experience - 5 bites
Price - $ (1 bite mark)
Probability of return visit - 90% 

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Sycamore Kitchen
143 S La Brea Ave  Los Angeles, CA 90036
Ph: 323.939.0151
Website: thesycamorekitchen.com

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