The Hottest Dessert Shop in SGV Sells Coconuts in Every Way Imaginable | Eater LA

"Opened in mid-October, I found Coconut & Co devoted to everything coconut, founded by friends Shelly Lin and Carmen Seetho who, after research trips across Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and beyond, set out to bring the Asian coconut trend to the U.S. They source young Thai green coconuts for a softer texture, fragrant, undiluted coconut water, and pride themselves on avoiding refined sugar—sweetening with natural coconut sugar, tea, fruit, or coconut water instead. The shop’s signature coconut shake blends Thai coconut water, coconut milk, ice, and hand-cut young coconut slivers; other highlights include a coconut avocado shake made with fresh avocado and roasted Gula Melaka coconut sugar, a coconut Oreo shake, and the popular Tornado (coconut milk and brown sugar with churpy (tapioca noodles)). Their kaya butter toast and housemade kaya jam—stirred over low heat each morning with fresh pandan, coconut cream, eggs, and imported Gula Melaka—are made in small, preservative-free batches and take over two hours to prepare, while taro and yam rice balls, pandan chiffon cake, Malaysian tea, purple sticky rice dessert, dairy-free coconut pudding with fruit, and made-to-order qing bu liang (vegan Cantonese dessert) round out a health-conscious, largely dairy-free menu; they’re also testing a Vietnamese coconut shake. I noted that customers from Singapore and other Asian countries have enthusiastically approved the offerings, and that the owners emphasize milder sweetness for older patrons and children—partly driven by Seetho’s commitment to healthier options while raising her autistic son." - Kristie Hang