Druckleberry in SM Is Just Okay

Huckleberry Bakery & Cafe in Santa Monica is beloved by many West Siders (including awesome pal Kristi, whom I predict will not appreciate this post) for their homespun-meets-haute breakfast, brunch and pastries. Manned by a delicious husband and wife team who are basically living my dream life, this place sounds promising. In theory.

Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb have hot buns.

The place is super cute, almost self-consciously so, reminding me a little of Tartine bakery in San Francisco. But Tartine is in the Mission, which still whispers, EDGY. Huckleberry is on Wilshire, which screams, MONEY! And you’d better bring lots.

But where oh where is today's Tom Sawyer...

We’ll get to the pastries, keep yer oven mitts on. But for now, let’s talk sandwiches. There’s been a lot of  buzz about their fried egg sandwich. Wanna know what a $9.95 one looks like?

This sandwich appears to have eaten Oscar the Grouch. Has anyone seen him lately?

But wait. What about a $7.50 PBJ?

You know you're in SM when...

Yep, I’m serious, and don’t call me Shirley. I know there’s overhead. Wilshire don’t come cheap. And though that lovely couple clearly rolls their own dough, they don’t appear to be rolling IN IT. Plus, I must admit that sandwich is making me drool. BUT STILL. Now for some baked goodness:

Pretty tempting.

Yummy, right? Stopping by on a sunny Sunday cheat day, I waited in line for 15 minutes, paralyzed by indecision (understandably, see above!). When it was finally my turn to order, the staff quickly became frustrated and slightly snippy, like it was Santa Monica sorority rush and I’d shown up without the prerequisite attitude.

All told, I dropped a good $20 on a cup of coffee and a pastry or two, and they were just… fine. (The fact that I was there recently and don’t remember my exact order speaks volumes.) I’m pretty sure there was a doughnut (ho-hum) and a fruit tart thing, of some description. The coffee was super expensive and non-offensive, at best.

With all of that said, in my research for this post, I happened to discover this, thanks to Caroline on Crack:

Huckleberry's salted caramel bar. Oh, lord. Save me from myself.

That might be TOO sweet even for me. But I’d be willing to take one. You know, for the team.