Hey CS, glad you were finally able to check out Lou’s. If you ever make it back there, I can also recommend their eclairs and tarts. I like the chocolate/almond croissant as well but you may not…
Re: Proof, I myself have only gotten fresh croissants from them once and it was indeed glorious, but the rest were just on par. Have you had their sandwiches? Poor QPR for sure but damn are they good.
Thanks @Ns1 again for the amazing rec! Lou’s Almond Croissants are amazing, and pretty much 1A to Chaumont’s 1. Some of the best in the city. 
I’ll be sure to try their eclairs next time.
Proof Sandwiches: Yes! I love them, but definitely not that good for QPR (small portions), but tasty. Any favorite flavors to order? Thanks.
Re: Proof
I’m a sucker for that ham/cornichon one. So simple yet so addictive.
Re: Lou
Naturally, today was the first “miss” I’ve had from them re: Almond Croissant. You can see that it’s not nearly as brown as usual. Edges were still amazing though.
Back in the neighborhood and I’ve tried Lou on The Block a couple of times now. @Ns1 and @Chowseeker1999, I was pretty impressed by their butter croissant. There was still some crispness when I bit into it. Chaumont is still king in my book, but Lou is a great alternative for folks who live in the Valley and don’t want to trek down to Beverly Hills.
Lou’s quiche lunch special is pretty fantastic. It’s a hefty piece of quiche laden with comté cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and pecorino cheese. Comes with a nice side salad with a house made Dijon vinaigrette. For $11, it may not be cheap, but it’s very large portion of a very good quiche (1/6 of a 10 or 12 inch tart pan).
I tried the financiers, but found the almond one rather artificial or chemical-tasting. Not sure what happened there, but the raspberry one was delightful.
Hi @attran99,
Thanks for the rec on the quiche. I’ll have to try that next time I’m passing through. 
almost anything w/ fruit @ Lou’s is good. The eclairs are also magical, but must be eaten immediately.
I recently had one of the most memorable butter croissants at the JW Marriott in Phu Quoc, Vietnam of all places. I get that Vietnam was colonized by the French so they have a lot of french influence, particularly in baking. But made me wonder…if the Vietnamese can learn to bake from the french and a hotel breakfast buffet can put out such amazing croissants, why can’t bakers in LA with the vast resources we have, not do the same??
that’s pretty remarkable…
I actually had the same experience with the buffet croissants at the Marriott in Mumbai.
I’m hypothesizing that it’s actually easier in a hotel buffet environment because you only need to make high quality croissants for a short 3-4 hour high traffic window.
I saw the tarts and a flourless chocolate cake, but do not remember eclairs. I’ll keep an eye out for them next time…likely later this week. I’ve been re-exploring the neighborhood. It’s changed a bit in 5 years.
Boulangerie croissants in Japan easily best those I’ve tried in France. #freakingAsia
A new local spot alert for @Chowseeker1999
Roji bakery
807 south la brea
Los angeles
Stopped by roji bakery near la bread and Wilshire. Japanese style western bakery.
Newish place that has only been open for 4 months. Seems to be run by an Asian family of moms and daughters. Fresh baked breads, sandwiches, and daily pastries.
They have a stone brick pizza oven in front .
The croissant was super crispy on the outside and soft/buttery on the inside with great air pockets. Reminiscent of chaumont without the super strong cultured butter flavors. I need to come try when they are fresh as I had mine at 1140
Almond croissant was less good but still very tasty. The almond topping had completely smothered the croissant.
Prices are super affordable and they sell mini versions of quite a few of their pastries. Definitely rooting for the family local spot.
The croissants are still as great as ever at Chaumont, but the vibe if you’re eating there is just not as pleasant as it was pre-pandemic. There’s no indoor seating still (fine by me; we still haven’t eaten indoors yet), but the outdoor seating has a weird semi-tropical vibe with grass umbrellas that’s totally not in keeping with the aesthetic of the place. Also, everything is currently to go, so there’s no table service and they (at least on July 5th) basically had just two people working front of the house. Understandable, but hopefully they can get back to something approaching what they used to be soon.
Some bts action, nice tour of the products
Don’t know this channel, but “softness” isn’t my top feature to look for in a great croissant… #SearchingForShatter#TokyoBoulangeries
I think the almond / almond & chocolate croissant are the croissants to get at Lou’s
Agree but for one exception: if the croissant is being used in a sandwich. A shattery croissant in that situation is actually kind of annoying (IMHO) and distracts from the filling. I only mention this b/c partner and I were happy to get soft-ish croissants from Amandine this past weekend for our chicken salad sandwiches.
Have you tried Artelice Pattisserie? Their’s are not soft at all.
