Westwood Dining Review

Le Pain Quotidien

By Lilian Lee

One of the joys of Westwood Village is that it is a true pedestrian community, and as such, offers a plethora of restaurants and cafes with sidewalk patios ideal for nibbling, drinking, and people watching. And if it’s a morning cup of cappuccino you’re wanting, there’s no better place than Le Pain Quotidien on Broxton. Plus, in true café form, this little French café offers a small but respectable breakfast menu of omelets and some lighter offerings.

Bacon-lovers and steak-and-eggs kind of men need not show up at Le Pain Quotidien. From the breakfast menu, the meat option is limited to one: the Paris Ham and Gruyère omelet. A true classic, this dish gets the job done with just minimal setbacks. The ham is delicious, the gruyere tastes great, but the omelet itself is a little dry. If you’re type who enjoys soft, almost melt-in-your-mouth omelets, you may have to ask the kitchen to take it easy on your eggs. A more interesting choice is the Roasted Asparagus and Goat Cheese omelet. I have to say I’ve never had the opportunity to eat asparagus for breakfast, but I couldn’t complain with this combination. The goat cheese was just delicious, as it always is, and though its grouping with asparagus seemed a tad random and not perfectly complementary, it worked. I would only ask next time that the asparagus bits be cut into smaller pieces for easy forkage into the omelet.

Le Pain Quotidien offers six omelets in total, the other four being Parmesan and Pesto, Avocado and Tomato, Wild Mushroom, and Smoked Salmon and Scallions. My friend, who loves menu choices and meat, was dismayed when he saw the selections. But he didn’t want to go the regular ham-and-cheese route, so he enlisted our server’s help in choosing the right one. Following her raving recommendation of the Roasted Asparagus and Goat Cheese omelet, he was all set on it until she revealed that she was a vegetarian and had never tried the Paris Ham and Gruyère. He then promptly changed his order to the latter. His maxim: Never trust the food recommendations of a vegetarian.

My suggestions? If you’re looking to put a little Italian into your breakfast, go with the Parmesan and Pesto; and if you really wanted a lox bagel but got dragged into having a proper breakfast, take the Smoked Salmon and Scallions.

Whatever your selection, each plate is served with mixed greens and two slices of their trademark bread. Hard and soft in just the right places, the Le Pain Quotidien’s bread is wonderfully reminiscent of the bread that one buys at a real French patisserie. Served with fruit confiture, apricot confiture, and Belgian praline spread, my breakfast companion considered it the best part of his meal.

Le Pain Quotidien also caters to health nuts and fruit lovers with their Organic Steel Cut Oatmeal with berries and milk and Organic Omega-3 Berry Boost Oatmeal with soy milk, flax seed oil, and flax seeds. But don’t be scared by these names – it’s just oatmeal. And in the same vein, their omelets are just omelets. Le Pain Quotidien makes no grand promises with its breakfast, but with that bread and that cappuccino, they don’t have to.

Address: 1055 Broxton Ave., Westwood, CA - 90024

Phone: 310-824-7900

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