Popovers and Panties

I have to admit, however, that more often than not I forgo every other food venue in the Galleria and take my nourishment from See’s. The Bordeaux Bar is the only truly transcendent food experience at that vast mall. The perfect balance of sweet and salty, chocolate and butterscotch, and big enough to eat in several stages, this is the queen of candy bars. Nothing at Godiva compares, especially at the price. One dollar. Heaven.

The convergence of retail and repast has also resulted in a number of odd hybrids, a shop that is also a lunch spot. Rita Flora on La Brea Avenue, for example, is a florist-adjacent café. Further north on La Brea, Maison Midi, a fabulous housewares store, shares its address with Café Midi, which also opens right into American Rag Company. In the back, with a long, dark bar and a charmingly European ambiance, Midi serves breakfast and light lunch. Best try on your Martine Margiella shifts and Caniper sandals first, then, if it’s early, refuel with eggs, omelets, pancakes or cereals or, at lunch, try the quiche (baked on the premises) or a curried-egg-salad sandwich or any number of good salads, including a lovely Belgian endive with Fourme d’ambert and walnuts. Go shop for gorgeous Jar pottery or yellow Provençale napkins, then slip back for a shot of espresso and a fruit tart, wedge of chocolate cake or slab of banana bread — all are baked on Midi’s premises. Take your dessert outside, at a table in front of the shop. The weather’s simply perfect for it.

Location Info

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Barney Greengrass Restaurant

9570 Wilshire Blvd. 5th floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Category: Restaurant > Deli

Region: Beverly Hills

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Mauro's Cafe

8112 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Category: Restaurant > Coffeehouse

Region: West Hollywood

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More About

• Marion Cunningham
• Mariposa
• Beverly Hills (California)
• Eating Out
• Foods

Another alluring and idiosyncratic hybrid café-cum-shop can be found on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. Casbah began as, and still is, a store called Maindreville, an outlet for hand-loomed Oaxacan cottons. The store’s owner, Claudia O’Sullivan, worked with indigenous women in Southern Mexico, encouraging them to continue their ancient art of backstrap weaving with natural fibers instead of less expensive acrylics. “They would work on an involved, intricate piece of weaving for three months, and it would be in cheap acrylic yarn!” O’Sullivan says. Casbah sells bedspreads, beach sheets, napkins, tablecloths and other beautifully made woven items produced by these women; the store also stocks Moroccan baskets and tiles and tea glasses, plus an eclectic selection of clothes items and accessories (a bamboo purse, a thin cotton nightie), Indian pajamas, scarves from France. The selection is unusual, but don’t skip the salades and gateaux. Casbah’s owners also own and operate Figaro, a new French bistro on Vermont, and an off-site bakery where a French baker makes artisanal breads from natural yeast starters, a process that takes several days rather than the expedient half-day of bread-baking with commercial yeast. Casbah then features these wonderful breads. A small selection of sandwiches (proscuitto, Brie and tomato) is augmented by quiches, soups, and a special or two. One day, the special is a simple avocado salad: a whole, perfectly right, pitted avocado, still in its skin, served with fresh lemon wedges, good tomatoes, a tossed green salad and lots of chewy bread. Casbah’s desserts come out of the Figaro kitchen. Try the iced, tart lemon tea cake (waiters here add a spoonful of macerated raspberries). Casbah’s service staff is particularly good-looking, if disorganized and, bluntly, sluggish. There are benefits to having a fascinating store in this particular coffee/sandwich bar; at least there’s plenty to look at while waiting 15 minutes for a coffee or a bowl of asparagus soup, and that’s when the place is nearly empty. Casbah has become quite the hip and popular breakfast spot, especially on weekends. Take your patience and your credit card, and you won’t leave hungry or empty-handed.

Costco, 2901 Los Feliz Blvd.; (323) 661-8791.

IKEA Burbank, Media City Center, 600 N. San Fernando Blvd.; (818) 842-4532.

Barney Greengrass, Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Fifth Floor, Beverly Hills; (310) 777-5877.

Mauro’s Café, Fred Segal, 8112 Melrose Ave.; (323) 653-7970.

Mariposa, Neiman-Marcus, 9700 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 550-5900.

Cafe Nordstrom, Glendale Galleria, 200 W. Broadway, Glendale; (818) 502-9422.

Café Midi, Maison Midi, 148 S. La Brea Ave.; (323) 939-9870.

Casbah Café, 3900 W. Sunset Blvd.; (323) 664-7000.