Andrea Bricco Photography

Sumi Chang’s chocolate croissant and peach tart

A recent New Yorker article chronicling Jonathan Gold’s life as a food critic, claims that he reviews somewhere between three and five hundred restaurants a year and drives about twenty-thousand miles during that year to get to them. In this month’s issue of Pasadena magazine Jonathan shares with us the restaurants that hold a special little place in his stomach when he doesn’t have to get in his car; where he goes when he is off duty.
To start off his list and his day, Euro Pane, Sumi Chang’s acclaimed Pasadena Bakery. Sumi, once a baker at Nancy Silverton’s La Brea Bakery has mastered the art of pastry making. It’s no wonder that Jonathan is there so much he feels like part of the furniture.

The flakiest of peach tarts

I could be calling for a while…

Dead fish may not be the first thing that pops into your head when you think of all the beauty in the world but you can find it in anything if your mind is in the right place.

In this month’s issue of GQ

Included in the November issue is an article on the best coffee shops around the country. Intelligentsia was included in the list and I was happy to take a photo trip to the cafe for the magazine to check it out. Now I’m not much of a coffee snob and to be honest (much to the horror of my friends) find myself continuing with the same cup of coffee at noon that I started with at 8 am, but what I can tell you from experience is that this place is charmingly eclectic and filled with people who know their coffee on both sides of the counter. I have also been told by a very reliable source that Intelligentsia is armed with a mean chocolate croissant. A great shot of espresso and a chocolate croissant, can you think of a better way to start your day? Ok maybe 3 shots of espresso, depending on the call time.

Just walk in and ask for the sandwich

Whether you’re stopping in for a quick sandwich, cured olives or for the best pancetta this side of Italy, this endearing little place will have what you’re looking for.

Meet Rosario. Rosario IS Roma Italian Deli. He has been with this old world deli for 55 years. Rosario is Sicilian, 5 foot nothing and is always smirking.
I think he smirks because he knows his deli will make you happy and that makes him happy. He doesn’t have to wait for your reaction to the first bite of The Sandwich; he already knows what it will be. He smirks because he’s found his place in this world, sharing the joys of perfect Italian meats and cheeses with you and I. Maybe that’s a whole lot to assume from the smirk of a cute, little Sicilian butcher but it sure makes perfect sense to me.



Here is Rosario making the one and only Roma Italian Deli sandwich