I hadn’t considered the next decision — where was I supposed to eat these pastries?
Perhaps the baby blue tables in front of Bakers Bench. Or maybe in the middle of the courtyard beneath the red canopies? There was the long bench along the house’s edge, shaded by towering trees, or better yet at the front patio flanked by Red Bay Louisa plants overlooking the garden?
Across from the Los Feliz Flea Market in Victor Heights, a narrow driveway marked “1021 Alpine St" and “Classic and Custom Tattooing” ushered visitors into a hidden courtyard lined with local vendors.
Alpine Courtyard was once slated to be torn down for luxury apartment homes. When the plan fell through, the land was sold, preserved, and reborn as a haven for local businesses.
Straight ahead stood Perilla. A sharp left led to a repurposed home that housed Baker’s Bench and Cassell’s Hamburgers. To the right was The Estate, a tattoo parlor.
Through the home’s red rear door stood a knick knack wall: blue croissant pins, banana earrings, a stitched Baker’s Bench logo, a rolling pin carved with flowers and a framed certificate marking the shop’s opening – June 6, 2024.
The knick-knack wall opened into the main room, where the pastries sat behind a glass, wooden-framed cabinet.
The flavors ranged widely— furikake croissant, fennel snap danish, black sesame cookie, rhubarb muffin and banana bread with hazelnut, to name a few.
We chose a blueberry scone with kumquat glaze, a citrus danish with powdered sugar and almonds, classic chocolate chip cookie and the shop’s most iconic pastry: the vegan croissant.
In fact, every pastry was vegan, that's the Baker's Bench specialty.
We sat at the baby blue tables just outside Baker’s bench beneath the warm late morning sun.
Baker’s Bench wasn’t just a bakery serving delicious tummy-ache free pastries; it was an invitation to pause, to savor, and to intermingle in a shared space.
Illustrated by Rina Shin, Written by Jason Escobar