Bakers Bench
Bakery · Chinatown ·
Flaky vegan croissants, cookies, danishes, and muffins
Flaky vegan croissants, cookies, danishes, and muffins
"Follow the scent of freshly baked pastries through Victor Heights’ Alpine Courtyard to an all‑vegan viennoiserie from Jennifer Yee, where fruit‑filled Danishes, yuzu poppyseed scones, chocolate chip cookies, and some of Los Angeles’s best croissants await. The Culinary Institute of America–trained baker, who began experimenting with plant‑based butter at Echo Park’s Konbi before opening a Chinatown kiosk in 2021, has settled into a former house, and a single bite of these pastries can change the minds of even the staunchest vegan‑butter naysayers. Tear into the flaky, buttery plain croissant to find a spiral interior that resembles a tightly wound golden ratio; the exterior shatters to reveal plush, laminated layers, and there are versions filled with chocolate or dotted with furikake. Vegetable‑laden sandwiches come on slices of golden, airy focaccia with a sturdy undercarriage, with fillings that change with the seasons—currently bright orange romesco, pickled red onion, and kale. Chewy black sesame cookies start with a nutty punch balanced by mild sweetness, their flavor resembling the filling of tang yuan. Best for picking up a box of pastries to take to a picnic at the neighboring Los Angeles State Historic Park, or for a casual daytime croissant and coffee." - Rebecca Roland
"The bakery in the Alpine Street courtyard is a good stop for a pastry or a cookie to bring to a shared patio meal; "The move is to grab the croissant, which is among the best iterations of the laminated pastry in LA," according to Rebecca Roland." - Eater Staff
"Lesley Suter says her friend Jen Yee opened 'the most adorable little bakery in Chinatown' that 'feels like this fantastic garden oasis in the city.'" - Eater Staff
"Let’s be clear: although this Chinatown bakery makes entirely vegan croissants, we judged them with the same rigor as we did standard ones. Which makes their deliciousness all the more impressive. Less flaky and more chewy than other specimens on this list, the airy croissants at Bakers Bench remind us of Pillsbury crescent rolls in the best way possible. The lack of crispness might seem like a drawback, but it just means more of the tender, caramel-colored pastry ends up in your mouth rather than on your lap." - sylvio martins, garrett snyder, brant cox
"Jennifer Yee relocated her Chinatown vegan viennoiserie to Victor Heights within the Alpine Courtyard, continuing to bake croissants, palmiers, cinnamon knots, rotating cookies and muffins, and seasonal baked goods with a menu that's about 80 percent vegan and now includes sandwiches and focaccia slices." - Eater Staff