What’s your current favorite? I love the one at Bob’s Well Bread in Los Alamos, but that’s not exactly close by so I settle for the pretty decent one at Pinwheel Cafe in Torrance since it’s only a couple of minutes from my house.
Pinwheel’s kouign-amann:
République
The best I have had is called the Buttercup at Sycamore Kitchen
B Patisserie in SF
And Arsicault as well.
I love Sugarbloom’s white miso kouign amann. The miso adds a deliciously salty edge to it, and the caramelized bottom is nicely crunchy.
I’ve found them regularly at Stumptown in Arts District although it’s been a while since I’ve gone. Their pastries are carried at various coffee shops, and you can also order to pick up here:
Damn that is gorgeous. Honestly haven’t had any in LA that come close to au kouign amann in Montreal, but I may have to check this one out.
I’m pretty sure Gusto Bread’s (LB) Nixtamal Queen is kouign-amann. The quality is up there. We usually get the Pinwheel scones. I have to try their kouign-amann next time.
Gusto Nixtamal Queen Instagram posting.
[edit] Realistic speaking, 4 out of 5 times I’ll walk over to Sidecar and get a Maple Bacon donut over k-a.
The one at Bob’s is really special. I like Gusto a lot, haven’t had that k-a but I imagine it would be pretty dope. I also seem to recall having a good one at Proof (surprise surprise).
I’ve been wanting to try that Nixtamal Queen and Gusto in general! Gonna attempt to get it today. I’ve heard it sells out pretty quick, so fingers crossed there’ll still be some left in a couple of hours.
ETA: Nevermind. They close at 2pm on weekends. 
Interesting that they use a mix of sourdough and (as the name suggests) masa.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CODe5e3JXnd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&hl=en
Yeah, sounds intriguing.
Honestly, have you ever had a bad kouign amann? The worst one is pretty good. : )
Milo and Olive has very good one, with great contrast and not too sweet; Clark St has one which is really dripping with butter and a bit heavy on the sugar but, still, delicious.
Warrior: I agree with this recommendation of the white miso kouign amann at Stumptown, also with the caveat that I haven’t eaten it for years. It’s nice to have more complexity than butter and caramelized sugar in the flavor profile.
Update: I retract this recommendation after tasting it again today.
Since it’s sort of in your general vicinity, have you tried Colossus next to Choriman? We really liked their version. Breakfast burrito from Choriman, some pastries for dessert, eat at the park a quarter mile away while looking over the ocean makes for a nice morning.
Bread Bar
ST Patisserie
Republique
The apple cinnamon one I had during tea at the Getty Center was… not good. Certainly more than edible, but I would not call it pretty good.
Partner and I both also like the one at Clark St.
Touché.
I have tried Colossus, but never their Kouign. I don’t think I’ve seen one there before, but haven’t been in a while. Will try again! Thanks.
I finally tried the Nixtamal Queen at Gusto Bread in Long Beach. It is delicious and sort of like a caramelized chewy cornbread. While it doesn’t satisfy my craving for an actual kouign-amann, I still really enjoyed it. Also, I think Nixtamal Queen is such a great name.
I had a truly bad one around 10 years ago, at the now-gone Emporio Rulli stand in Union Square in SF. It was actually my first kouign amann, and I commented to my daughter at the time that if that was how they’re supposed to taste, I wanted no part of them. She assured me that there are far better ones out there, and she was right. As in, every one I’ve had since then has been much better. So far, the best I’ve had is from the Bouchon Bakery in Las Vegas. I tried the supposed benchmark, from the Dominique Ansel outpost in Los Angeles, and although very good, I thought it fell short of Bouchon’s offering. (Maybe Dominique was preoccupied making Cronuts, which was the big thing at the time.) I still want to try the Buttercup from Sycamore Kitchen, the one at Republique, and the Arsicault offering in SF. I’m open to any other said-to-be-great ones. Unfortunately, I only rarely make it to L.A. or SF these days, so all this will have to wait.
