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Superba pastries

Venice just got another great place to eat. And it’s not on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

The recently opened Superba Food & Bread on Lincoln Boulevard is what proprietor Paul Hibler, of Pitfire Pizza and East Borough fame, called the good sibling of Superba Snack Bar. Indeed, Superba Food & Bread’s menu is lighter, but the baked goods more than make up for any differences in calories. And what tasty calories they are!

The brioche sticky bun and pretzel croissant are two of my favorites. Both have great texture and balanced flavors — not too sweet or salty. But the porchetta di testa croissant is a revelation. Porchetta di testa, made from marinated and braised pig’s head, is sliced paper-thin and layered into a pretzel croissant. Savory and sweet at its finest. Thank you, Pastry Chef Lincoln Carson, for bringing this into my life.

Brioche sticky buns

Pretzel croissants

Porchetta di testa croissant

And Executive Chef Jason Travi, formerly of Fraiche and concurrently of Littlefork, should be thanked for his concoctions, too.

The pain au levain toasts are a great way to start a meal. For something sweet, go for the kaya version with coconut jam, pickled fresno and cilantro, and for something savory, go with the burrata, muhammara (walnuts and roasted peppers), pickled radish and parsley combination.

Kaya toast

Burrata toast

When it comes to sides, the roasted and raw sunchokes with green goddess sauce, as well as the crispy cauliflower, are standouts.

Sunchokes

While I didn’t favor the vadouvan leg of lamb (I rarely like lamb, so this is a personal preference), I did enjoy the seared arctic char served with snap peas, rhubarb and mint. Execution is definitely not an issue here.

Arctic char

While two of the dessert options, a strawberry basil pavlova and vanilla caramel custard with orange, were too floral for my taste, the Superba “candy bar” with marcona almonds, chocolate and sea salt was on point for me. It’s rich, sweet, salty, smooth and crunchy — basically, everything you could ask for. You can also savor some Stumptown coffee while you enjoy your dessert or pastry.

Candy bar

I can’t wait to go back!

Note: This meal was hosted.

Further reading:

First Taste: Superba Food + Bread in Venice Opens Tomorrow by estarLA

Superba Food & Bread Testa Croissant (Food of the Week) by Food GPS

Pastry Chef Rebecca West's pastries

Brunch is normally a weekend occurrence, but sometimes it’s nice to have breakfast foods at lunchtime during the week. You can do that at Luca on Sunset in West Hollywood, where brunch is served until 3 p.m. daily.

Chef Luca Giorgetti, who grew up in a Tuscan farmhouse, offers a slew of healthy breakfast items (no butter and little salt), including omelets, scrambles, breakfast and croissant sandwiches, pancakes, French toast, smoothies, juices and many other dishes. And Pastry Chef Rebecca West makes some amazing pastries (these, of course, contain “just enough” butter), including the flaky croissants used in Giorgetti’s sandwiches.

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