Happy National Coffee Day!

For many of us, the day begins with a steaming cup of joe. It's how we wake up, and sometimes how we survive throughout the day. We are addicted to the strong aroma, robust flavor -- and, of course, the caffeine can help.

Today is National Coffee Day, and although coffee is mostly made for drinking, there are plenty of ways to use it in cooking and baking. You might want to savor the tail end of summer's warm weather with a hickory-smoked brisket with Southwestern coffee barbecue sauce or throw a dinner party and impress your friends with coffee-infused duck breast with lentil salad.  For dessert, keep the coffee ice cream in the freezer and try making Kona coffee creme brulee instead.

Enjoy!

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Demitasse now pouring coffee in Little Tokyo

Downtown coffee fiends are already checking out Demitasse Cafe, which opened Monday in Little Tokyo. The beans are those roasted by Equator Coffees, such as Sidama Ardi from Ethiopia. Local roaster Coffee Bean's Papua New Guinea are on the coffee menu this month too. An "aroma bar" lets customers smell the beans before choosing. Coffee is brewed by individual cup via siphon or Clever dripper. To pair with one's coffee: Compartes chocolates and pastries and cookies from Compartes, Jin Patisserie and FarmShop.

135 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles, (213) 613-9300, www.cafedemitasse.com.

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Your new caffeine fix: Cookies

It might be painful, but just for a second, imagine skipping your morning coffee. Gasp! For some, having that morning cup of coffee is not only a ritual, it’s a godsend. And when time is short, sometimes adding a bite to eat is out of the question. 

Esther Kang, the owner of Batch from Scratch, a Los Angeles-based bakery offering gourmet sweets, is hoping you’ll turn to them for your all-in-one morning fix. Her online bakeshop features two new caffeinated cookies meant to give you a sugary treat and your morning coffee kick: the cardamom caramel macchiato cookie and the Mayan chocolate inferno cookie.

The bakery describes the cardamom caramel macchiato as a mix between a caramel macchiato and a bolder Turkish coffee with a hint of cardamom and cloves. The cookie gets its caffeine from instant espresso powder and coffee grounds.  

The Mayan chocolate inferno is a double chocolate cookie with some spice. You get the inferno heat from a mix of cayenne pepper and chipotle and a hefty dose of caffeine from instant espresso powder.

The cookies are available at Batchfromscratch.com and exclusively at Scoops Westside.

Might be a fun treat to have on your way to work or even for dessert. And for those addicted to caffeine, even a snack with your coffee.

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Photo: Mayan chocolate inferno cookie from Batch from Scratch. Credit: Barch from Scratch

Keeping cool in L.A.: Today is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

Whether part of the food truck scene or as a creamery's menu staple, ice cream sandwiches are a frozen treat geniusly invented to get the best of both worlds -- cookies and ice cream -- in the realm of sweets. Angelenos can get their fix from local producers with flavors, from classic to wacky, to satisfy a spectrum of cravings during summer's warm months. Or, as it so happens, on National Ice Cream Sandwich Day.

Beachy Cream: Made in small batches with local and organic ingredients, Beachy Cream’s ice cream sandwiches are made with a spin on names and flavors sure to fit the SoCal scene: Key Lime Cowabunga, Strawberry Surfer Girl, Surfin' Safari Chocolate Chip and Ginger Wipe Out. These tasty treats can be found on the streets of Malibu, at select stores and online. Beachycream.com. 

Father's Office: A recent addition to the menu, ice cream sandwiches are now offered at the Culver City location. Creations include the hazelnut and foie gras ice cream on oatmeal cookies and the buttermilk ice cream and raspberry sorbet on lemon shortbread. 3229 Helms Ave., L.A., (310) 736-2224, fathersoffice.com. 

MILK: The brightly colored sandwiches are made of fresh macarons and ice cream flavors such as grasshopper (mint chip), Thai tea, rocky road, coffee toffee and red velvet. 7290 Beverly Blvd., L.A., (323) 939-6455, themilkshop.com. 

Sweet Rose Creamery: Located in the Brentwood Country Mart, the shop bakes its cookies on site daily, and ice cream flavors change regularly in accordance with what's in season at the farmers market. Classics include fresh mint with homemade chocolate chip and salted caramel while August's ice cream flavors include melon, summer corn, peaches 'n' cream and watermelon granita, among others. 225 26th St., Ste. 51, Santa Monica, (310) 260-2663, sweetrosecreamery.com.

More after the jump:

Critic S. Irene Virbila cools it with an affogato

When Alto Palato, the late great West Hollywood Italian restaurant was still open and I lived around the corner, on hot summer days when the ceiling fan just wasn’t cutting it, I would sometimes slip over to the restaurant’s bar for an affogato. That would be ice cream "drowned" in espresso.

Gino Rendoni, longtime manager at Angelini Osteria, was the barista then. At the time, Alto Palato was practically the only place to get a good espresso. (L.A. has come a long, long way since those days.) And an affogato made with his espresso was superb.

Now I sometimes make it at home. The first requirement is a good vanilla gelato or ice cream. Don’t even think about using other flavors. Sometimes I have some I’ve made leftover, or if not, I’ll go with Ben & Jerry’s basic or Dr. Bob's vanilla. Put a scoop in a cup or small bowl and pour freshly made espresso over the top--not too much or the ice cream will melt under the onslaught, about the equivalent of a short espresso.

 That’s it. Consume immediately.

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Photo credit: S. Irene Virbila/Los Angeles Times

 

3 Food Events You Should Know About: Cognoscenti Coffee tasting + Royal/T; Carmela Ice Cream at DomaineLA; Library Alehouse's SourFest

Coffee time: Royal/T, Culver City's Japanese pop-art gallery and maid cafe, hosts a Cognoscenti Coffee tasting, along with food pairings from cheesemonger Sebastian Robin Craig of the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills and Jessica Koslow of Sqirl. Cognoscenti Coffee founder Yeekai Lim will be pouring Four Barrel coffee. There will be artisanal cheeses, homemade pickles, seasonal jams and specialty breads and baked goods. A three-course menu includes: Lacinato kale salad with Sqirl’s preserved Meyer lemons, Santa Rosa plum dressing, and Lou Rey raw sheep Basque cheese, paired with chilled Ethiopia Welena Suke Quto coffee; a European cheese plate with Sqirl’s homemade pickles and Proof’s Concord grape focaccia, paired with hot Kenya Murang’a Theri and chilled Costa Rica La Concha Typica. Aug. 3, 4 to 8 p.m. Tasting sessions start every half-hour. Poetry reading starts at 7 p.m. in the back space. Tickets are $18 per person, available at http://coffeexfood.eventbrite.com or call Royal/T. 8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (310) 559-6300, www.royal-t.org. 

Have your wine with your ice cream: Local ice cream maker Carmela Ice Cream unveils new wine-based sorbets at wine shop DomainLA in West Hollywood. Carmela founder and flavor developer Jessica Mortarotti collaborated with sommelier Heather Willens to create two summer wine sorbets, based on Raventos i Blanc Sparkling Cava and Caluna Malbec blend (Willens' own brand). Sorbets and wines available for tasting. Sunday, July 24, 2 to 5 p.m. Advance tickets are $6 (through the Domain547 website) or $8 at the door. 6801 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 932-0280, www.domaine547.com. 

SourFest kick-off: Library Alehouse celebrates all beers sour, starting July 25 with a visit from Orange County's Bruery. Featured beers: the Wanderer (City Beer collaboration); Marrón Acidifié (Cigar City collaboration); Pharaoh; Hottenroth Berliner Weisse; and Saison de Lente. A cheese pairing from Bruery Provisions cheesemonger Kendra Birdwell and Cicerone Thomas Kelley also will be available. Throughout SourFest, which runs until Aug. 4, Library Alehouse will dedicate 10 of its 29 taps to beers that bring the sour, rotating through 30 sour beers. See a SourFest draft list after the jump. 2911 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 314-4855, www.libraryalehouse.com.

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Photo: Cognoscenti Coffee at Proof Bakery. Credit: Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times

More coffee! More coffee!

Yesterday’s article on new third-wave coffee bars and roasters in Los Angeles sparked a flurry of letters, emails and comments nominating other worthy cafés and roasters (some still in the works) that deserved mention and should be on the map. So here are a couple of additions.

Portola Coffee Lab
Description: high-concept ‘lab’ for coffee in sleek digs at the OC Mart Mix in Costa Mesa, featuring mostly organic and fair trade coffees, and offering multiple brewing methods, including the mad-sexy Slayer espresso machine.
Proprietor: Jeff Duggan
Brewing methods: Hario pourover bar, Hario halogen-heated siphon bar, and Japanese-style slow drip iced coffee.
Location: 3313 Hyland Ave., Costa Mesa
Phone: (949) 284-0596
Website: portolacoffeelab.com

Klatch Coffee
Description: own-sourced direct trade coffee, with an emphasis on high-end Central America.
Proprietor: Mike & Cindy Perry; parents of Heather Perry, director of training and perennial barista champion.
Brewing methods: pourover, drip, siphon – their website has an excellent introduction to home brewing methods.
Espresso machine: La Marzocco Linea
Location: Three locations: Ontario, San Dimas, Rancho Cucamonga; soon to be installed at LAX.
Phone: (909) 981-4031
Website: www.klatchroasting.com

And we learned that two third-wave roasters will soon be opening their own cafes. Handsome Coffee Roasters (handsomecoffee.com) is three fetching lads with barista backgrounds who roast their own beans and have a traveling popup coffeeshop for hire -- and in October, they say, they'll have a café in downtown L.A.’s arts district.

And True Beans (truebeans.com) in Long Beach is a certified organic micro-roaster with a fidelity to varietal and regional expression (hence the name). Their beans are turning up in Whole Foods Markets and other specialty shops in the area; plans are in the works to open a cafe at their roasting facility at Catalina Landing.

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Paper or Plastik Cafe: More than just a cup of joe

The coffee condiments sit atop an old Deluxe television set amid the cafe's industrial setting with high ceilings, copper fixtures and a glass-paneled storefront. A joint venture between Anya and Yasha Michelson, along with daughter Marina, Paper or Plastik Cafe is a neighborhood coffee shop and the heart of a community hub.

The goods come from all over town; coffee from Intelligentsia Coffee and Ecco Caffe; pastries (homemade pop-tarts, pies, croissants) from Cake Monkey, Sweets for the Soul, Sweet Lady Jane and Le Pain du Jour; and a rotating menu of sandwiches and salads from Auntie Em's Kitchen and Breadbar.

There's even a playful ad campaign touching on the cafe's function as a multidisciplinary arts space.  With coffee as its core, the Mid-City cafe aims to serve the community as an artistic center, providing an outlet for visual and tactile performing arts.

5772 W. Pico Blvd., L.A., 323-935-0268

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Food art: Toasty coasters

Shaped like pieces of bread with a perfectly toasted appeal (thanks to the cork), this fun-for-the-home-or-as-a-gift coaster/trivet set designed by Patricia Naves proves that some things, with a purpose as simple as keeping rings off your furniture, can be gratifyingly amusing. Available online at Urban Outfitters for $14. Urbanoutfitters.com.

-- Caitlin Keller

Photo: The Toast It trivet/coaster set. Credit: Oiti.com.br

First stop in Sin City? Dunkin' Donuts

I pulled away from the curb, headed for Las Vegas on Thursday with one thing on my mind. Sure, I was looking forward to the casinos, the buffets and a show or two. But all that would come after my first stop in Sin City: Dunkin' Donuts and an extra-large cup of coconut-flavored coffee. Not flavored with a sweet syrup, mind you. Just flavored coffee.

I can hear the thunk as all you coffee purists out there clutch your chests and fall out of your chairs, knocking over your Intelligentsia on the way down. But I don't care: I love flavored coffee. So there. And I especially love Dunkin' Donuts flavored coffee.

For reasons I don't understand, there are no Dunkin' Donuts in So Cal, but there are at least 10 in Las Vegas. (Please correct me if I am wrong. Every so often I visit the Dunkin' Donuts website and punch in my home ZIP Code and my work ZIP Code, and cross my fingers.)

So while we were in Vegas, hubby -- bless his heart -- had already located the Dunkin' Donuts outlets in the area, and along our route to Hoover Dam. If we were on the road, I had a large Dunkin' Donuts coffee in the cupholder. In four days, we racked up six DD stops.

And on our way back home Sunday morning, we braved a ridiculously long line to stock up on bags to go. I know you can now buy it at the supermarket. But the bags at my supermarket do not yet sport the cool new sleeves, left. And besides, it just tastes better knowing I bought it at a bona fide Dunkin' Donuts.

Farewell, DD, until my next trip to Vegas. Until then, SMOOCH.

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Photo credit: Rene Lynch