Gift basket
Helms Bakery, holiday gifts, Orli La Jolla, best Monterey hotels, Echo Park listings, Eater's cuts, MORE
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Shake and bake
It’s been a banner year for baked goods in Los Angeles: obsession with laminated pastries is at an all-time high, a celebrated pie shop made its way onto the Times’ 101 Best list, and a bounty of new bakeries opened to considerable acclaim.
The most ambitious of them all might be the newly reopened Helms Bakery in Culver City. The nearly century-old bakery shuttered in 1969. After a 12-year labor of love by well-known local chef Sang Yoon (Father’s Office), the reinvented, airy 14,000-square-foot space soft-opened last month.
It was worth the wait. Part shoppy shop on steroids, Helms offers everything from tinned fish to Zab’s hot sauce to Craig’s vegan ice cream. There are even a handful of Japanese snacks, like spicy crawfish Lay’s and grape-and-peach Oreos. A coffee bar sells Helms Coffee espresso drinks, as well as smoothies and soft serve in flavors like Dole whip.
Then, of course, there are the actual baked goods. The pastry case is stocked with a cornucopia of gorgeous treats: slices of cherry pie, cookies from classic chocolate chip to corn-caramel, and yuzu-passionfruit slab cake. The doughnut selection is impressive as well (note, especially, the carrot cake and espresso-glazed crullers).
Fresh-baked breads include baguettes, country loaves, pain de mie, and a croissant loaf that might make for great holiday French toast.
While lunchtime offerings are currently relegated to grab-and-go status, they’re several steps above average. Konbini-style egg- and tuna-salad sandwiches, Spam kimbap, sides like tahini carrots, and hot options like brown sugar-marinated and glazed chicken wings were flying off the shelves around midday on a recent Thursday.
If this is any indication of what it’ll be once fully baked, the second act of Helms is poised for sweet success. –Karen Palmer
→ Helms Bakery (Culver City) • 322 Helms Ave • Soft-opening hours: Thurs-Sun, 8a-2p.
LA RESTAURANT LINKS: Chef Josh Gil bringing back anarcho-punk Supper Liberation Front dinner series starting next week • List of Malibu restaurants temporarily closed due to Franklin fire • New Indian restaurant Fitoor opens in Santa Monica • Raising Cain backtracks on Norms conversion plan • Checking in on the Original Saugus Cafe, oldest operating restaurant in Los Angeles County • Are cocktail bars leaving craft spirits behind?
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Objects
Gifts, part II
Our two-part series of gifts by locals, for locals, wraps with a handful of picks from sweet scents to the sweet science. Part I is here.
→ PerfumeHead’s LA LA Love Extrait de Parfum ($395): This small-batch perfume smells like sexy LA: Chateau Marmont, the morning after, a smoke with a lover (respectively: notes of cognac, vanilla absolute, and smoked amber).
→ Band of Flowers’s Happy + Bright Tea ($52): This new LA-based tea brand might actually be too pretty to unpack. But the blend promises a host of wellness benefits that might make your gift recipient tear right through the box.
→ Violet Grey’s Holiday Heroes Box ($275, above): Uber-chic Violet Grey owner Cassandra Grey curates this collection of products from Victoria Beckham Beauty and Westman Atelier, among others. So stunning, it’ll have even non-beauty obsessives looking forward to their morning routine.
→ Sarah Hendler’s Pave Shirley Bezel Set Emerald Cut Ring ($3200): Jewelry maven Sarah Hendler (who also curates vintage baubles) makes pieces you won’t want to take off. This one, in pink topaz and diamonds, is a gift that will look good on its recipient (or you) for years to come.
→ Banwood’s Protective Gear ($59): Year-round sun means more scraped-up knees and elbows for LA kids, whether at the skate park or biking around the neighborhood. Give the gift of protection while ensuring that they look cool while playing.
→ Gallery Dept Boxing Merch Hoodie ($595): Boxing buffs know that the best way to show off their love for the sport is by wearing a hoodie from LA's most cultish brand. –Zoe Schaeffer
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three residences — on the smaller side — that have come to market in Echo Park during the past month.
→ 2147 Vestal Ave (Echo Park) • 2BR/1BA, 650 SF • Ask: $1.098M • adorable bungalow with canyon views • Days on market: 25 • Agent: Janeth Boctor, Fortune Weavers Realty.
→ 2034 Blackbirds Way (Echo Park) • 3BR/3BA, 1582 SF • Ask: $1.495M • modern residence part of innovative Blackbirds community, built 2015 • Days on market: 26 • Agent: Tracy Do and Ronda Doyal, Coldwell Banker.
→ 1942 Lemoyne St (Echo Park, above) • 3BR/2BA, 1769 SF • Ask: $3.65M • split-level residence by architect Rachel Allen with stunning grounds • Days on market: 19 • Agent: Jonah Wilson, Carolwood Estates.
LA WORK & PLAY LINKS: In Manhattan Beach, The Butchery Quality Meats opening new outpost • Lucky Strike brings bowling alley to Beverly Hills • Young men are hungry for Kalshi and crypto • Inside two companies test-driving a 4-day work week • Should you put your marathon times on your Linkedin?
WORK • Media
Eat when served
Well, our friends at Vox Media didn’t take us up on our offer to chat about the local Eaters. Instead, per a layoffs memo from CEO Jim Bankoff, they’re “reorganizing [Eater’s] cities coverage into a regional model in order to most efficiently serve its audience's needs.”
It was a good run. But local media is hard (and not a requirement for selling ads to Campbell’s). So we get it. Vox has a lot of mouths to feed and the soup is hot and filling. Still, a moment of nostalgia for the Eater city sites that obsessively covered local dining in a very new way when they launched back in the aughts.
Whatever comes next for Eater, a “regional model” does not portend deeper local coverage. We’ve heard that some of the network’s big city editors will get new jobs running the regions, so hopefully they’ll still find a way to serve readers well in those markets. It’s certainly on-trend with the decline of local lifestyle media writ large.
But we are believers, and — having built those original Eater/Cubed/Racked city sites (profitably!) — we think we can do something similar here at FOUND. As discussed in this space, Paris and London are next for us, but if you’re an affected restaurant reporter in a neglected big to medium-sized U.S. city, you can find us at found@foundny.com. –Josh Albertson
CULTURE & LEISURE • Birds of a Feather
Berlant & Novak Live: A Christmas Miracle • The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever (Hollywood) • Thurs @ 930p • general admission, $60 per
Stevie Wonder • Crypto.com Arena (Downtown) • Sat @ 8p • section 119, $279 per
Billie Eilish • Kia Forum (Inglewood) • Sun @ 7p • section 101, $727 per
GETAWAYS • La Jolla
Restoration hardware
La Jolla’s newish micro-hotel Orli is a sly flip of a former historic residence from the 1910s, a landmark building parceled into 13 rooms. Sitting behind a private gate with code access, the hotel’s two buildings are separated by an olive tree-lined courtyard and were designed by architect Irving Gill (oft-credited as the founder of California modernism). The property is right in the thick of La Jolla — yet also, incredibly discreet.
My room, known as The Wing, was the size of a junior suite, with a living area, marble fireplace, full-size desk, and buffet stocked with coffee and snacks. The marble-tiled bathroom had a full soaking tub, leather window seat, and marble sink. Curvy, minimalist couches and chairs, textured wood furniture, and glossy jewel tones set a contemporary but warm vibe. Out on the desk, a record player and a variety of vinyl selections — bonus points for Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories — were awaiting my arrival.
But the best part may be the technology. Sister and brother founders Hailey and Max Waitt wanted to do more than just retrofit a historic building. They built an entire digital portal that lets guests come and go as they please, set their own check-in and check-out time, and purchase add-ons like coffee kits, flowers, cheese and charcuterie, and Champagne — all before they set foot in the room. And if you prefer good old-fashioned human connection, there’s also a concierge on-hand all day. –Caitlin White
→ Orli (La Jolla) • 7753 Draper Ave • Weekend king rates from $404.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Inside Chase’s new Sapphire Lounge at SAN • Tahoe holiday guide • Four Seasons revamps in Santa Fe • Chef Chris Cosentino opens new restaurant Koast in Maui • Planning the perfect Africa trip.
ASK FOUND
Today, three FOUND subscriber PROMPTS for which we seek intel:
Best high-end vintage jewelry? I love Jack Weir. Who else is out there?
Where should we host our office holiday dinner this year?
Any new and interesting ticketed NYE dinners this year?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfoundla.com.
GETAWAY • The Nines
Hotels, Monterey
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of LA’s best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundla.com.
Sanctuary Beach Resort (Monterey Bay), oceanfront cottages and 19 acres of pristine beach dunes, $525