It’s just before 11am, I’m sitting in my car in Culver City, and there’s a woman shouting at the top of her lungs. She’s not crazy, but she’s going to drive me crazy. She’s squeezing a horn and shouting, “Tamales! Tamales!” as she pushes a cart down the street. Dear Lord.

I jump out of my car and for a moment we lock eyes. “Oh crap, she’s got me”.

“Tamales?” She asks.

I respond with a polite “No, thank you.” I love tamales, but that’s not what I’m doing in Culver City. I’m getting bread at Lodge Bread.

Yeah I wrote that: bread. Sure, to the average eater bread is merely a foundation to a dish, an ingredient you can easily forget when it’s topped with sugar, meat, or fruit. But to me bread is life. I don’t view it as such just because it’s been preached to me every communion Sunday for the last 29 years of my life, but because it’s filling, delicious, and comforting. To now walk into a brightly-lit shop whose sole focus is the perfection of bread, made me feel warm on the inside.

My friend Tanaya of Tanaya’s Table and I were there to check out a dish or two on the menu. The first was the Bread and Butter ($4). Sure it looks like a simple plate, but it was a bit more than that. One of the two shop owners, Or, explained that making their natural butter can take up to 20 days. Or and his co-owner, Alex, culture the butter anywhere from five to ten days and then let it age for another ten days. When it comes to making their bread, different yeasts require different amounts of time. As a whole, it can take up to 23-hours which includes proofing and fermentation. They bake the bread at a very high temperature to let the crust darken which helps lock in the flavor. Once the process is complete, what is created is a loaf that is served up for appreciative customers like myself and Tanaya. Four slices of bread with a smear of salted butter was now in front of us. The crust was dark, crisp and decorated with grains. On its interior, the bread was somewhat softened and was sprinkled with poppy seeds. Spreading the butter atop the slice was like watching water gently cascade across sand at the beach—lovely, and that’s exactly how it tasted.

While the plate of Bread and Butter was nice, the Cashew Buttered Toast ($4.50) was even better. A thick helping of homemade cashew butter was spread across a single slice of toast and drizzled with date honey. Cutting into the bread and taking a bite was nice. The butter and honey combined to make a sweet and sticky paste. It was so delightful that I wouldn’t be upset if it stuck to the roof of my mouth, all day.

Lodge Bread has a simple spin on breakfast with their easy going take on toast. I didn’t get full on the plates we had, but I would enjoy them as supplement before or after a meal. I appreciate the way the owners put so much care and time in their product to create something that is true and delicious. It’s nice to see that there are still entrepreneurs who don’t feel the need to rush their product and the result of their hard work is something you can taste. And it tastes like fresh bread.

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Address: 11918 Washington Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90066
Phone: (424) 384-5097
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday – 7:00am to 5:00pm, Closed Monday.
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