Headed to Bestia tonight in Downtown LA - can’t wait!!!

This is a GREAT list of desserts in Los Angeles that are A-MA-ZING.  Go eat ALL OF THEM!!

Tasting Table’s Desserts of Summer

L.A. pastry chefs have upped their game, and it’s certainly paying off: We’ve highlighted six sweet endings that have swept us off our feet this summer.

Mint-Chip Ice Cream Pie: Roxana Jullapat peruses cookbooks your grandmother probably owned for classic dessert inspiration, and her interpretations at Cooks County never cease to amaze. Her swoon-inducing mint-chip ice cream pie ($10), served with cocoa-dusted pecans and a generous drizzle of chocolate syrup, will transport you back to childhood birthday parties. 

Butterscotch Coconut Tart:  At Downtown’s smoking-hot Bestia, chef Ori Menashe’s fresh pasta gets the most attention, but it’s the ephemeral Italian desserts of his wife, pastry chef Genevieve Gergis, that send diners home with a grin. Try the flaky-crusted butterscotch-coconut tart ($9), served with a quenelle of cool coconut sorbet and slices of stone fruit.

Monkey Bread: While the gooey, caramel-laden cake known as monkey bread ($8) might evoke breakfast nostalgia for Southern transplants, it’s a new treat for Abbot Kinney. At Salt Air, pastry/sous chef Megan Haney serves the decadently soft, pull-apart sticky bun with pralines and rum-marinated raisins over a pool of crème anglaise.

Vietnamese Coffee Snow: Pastry chef Ramon Perez’s most refreshing Asian-inspired desserts at Hinoki & the Bird are his feather-light bowls of shaved ice. Our current favorite is the intensely aromatic Vietnamese coffee flavor ($9), tinged with the lightest hint of sugar and cream. Perez finishes the dessert with cubes of his own fermented coconut jelly—called nata de coco—made with dried, shaved coconut.

Blondie with Salted Caramel Ice Cream: The menu at Connie and Ted’s might seem casual, but with seafood guru Michael Cimarusti at the helm, the fried clams and lobster rolls that land on the plate are anything but. The same goes for pastry chef David Rodriguez’s desserts: You’ve had a blondie ($9) before, but not like this. We still dream of the fork-tender brownie crowned with a melting scoop of salted caramel ice cream. 

Strawberry Macaron Sandwich: How do you make an ice cream sandwich ($9) even better? Upgrade with house-baked vanilla-bean macarons, like Spanish pastry chef Cesar Bermundez Cifuentes is doing at Sawtelle’s Flores. Like many of the dishes at the restaurant, the rich and creamy confection, filled with homemade strawberry ice cream, is best eaten with your hands. 

I love this map and some of my recent faves are listed.  Salt Air (review coming soon), Bestia, Hinoki & the Bird, Riva Bella…….aaahhhhh. 

Eater LA Heat Map

More often than not, tipsters, readers, friends and family of Eater have one question: Where should I eat right now? Restaurant obsessives want to know what’s new, what’s hot, which favorite chef just launched a sophomore effort. And while the Eater 38 is a crucial resource covering old standbys and neighborhood essentials across the city, it is not a chronicle of the ‘it’ places of the moment. Thus, we offer the Eater Heatmap, which will change continually to always highlight where the foodie crowds are flocking to at the moment.

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Bestia

Bestia (beast in Italian) is getting rave reviews pretty much everywhere so you don’t really need me to tell you how amazing it is.  But it is.  It’s pretty damn amazing.  

Bestia is the brainchild of husband and wife team Chef Ori Menashe of Angelini Osteria fame and Pastry Chef Genevieve Gergis.  It’s located a bit off the beaten path in the downtown arts district but it’s worth it.

The decor is pretty spot on for where the world is going and what people want to see and be a part of.  Part industrial warehouse.  Part steampunk revisionist.  Part twinkly lit French cafe.  I loved it.

The staff was perfect.  Our party was four people but someone made the reservation for two people.  Instead of telling me there was nothing they could do, they figured something out and within 10 minutes or so we had a table.  Love.

The food is delicious.  Pastas are tasty.  Pizza made me want to over-indulge.   The tomato and burrata salad made me want to smother myself in it.  I had to stop eating before I exploded.

I have only one gripe - it’s loud.  And I’m not so old that I think every restaurant should be silent so I can have a conversation.  This was LOUD.  I highly recommend eating on the terrace, outdoors where the decibel level is a bit lower.  The terrace is really where it’s at.  Trust me.  Or go with someone you don’t really like so you have a reason not to talk to them.  But that just seems wrong when the food is THIS good.

Bestia

2121 7th Place 

Los Angeles, CA 90021

(213)514-5724

Reservations

Bestia

Bestia (beast in Italian) is getting rave reviews pretty much everywhere so you don’t really need me to tell you how amazing it is.  But it is.  It’s pretty damn amazing.  

Bestia is the brainchild of husband and wife team Chef Ori Menashe of Angelini Osteria fame and Pastry Chef Genevieve Gergis.  It’s located a bit off the beaten path in the downtown arts district but it’s worth it.

The decor is pretty spot on for where the world is going and what people want to see and be a part of.  Part industrial warehouse.  Part steampunk revisionist.  Part twinkly lit French cafe.  I loved it.

The staff was perfect.  Our party was four people but someone made the reservation for two people.  Instead of telling me there was nothing they could do, they figured something out and within 10 minutes or so we had a table.  Love.

The food is delicious.  Pastas are tasty.  Pizza made me want to over-indulge.   The tomato and burrata salad made me want to smother myself in it.  I had to stop eating before I exploded.

I have only one gripe - it’s loud.  And I’m not so old that I think every restaurant should be silent so I can have a conversation.  This was LOUD.  I highly recommend eating on the terrace, outdoors where the decibel level is a bit lower.  The terrace is really where it’s at.  Trust me.  Or go with someone you don’t really like so you have a reason not to talk to them.  But that just seems wrong when the food is THIS good.

Heather’s Rating: Worth Going Back Over and Over (on the Terrace)

Bestia

2121 7th Place, Los Angeles, CA 90021

(213)514-5724

Open: Sun-Thur: 6:00p-11:00p, Fri & Sat: 6:00p-12:00a

Reservations