The Daily Dose

I never find myself in Downtown LA, but this weekend I went there to attend a cooking class in the lofts district (is that a place? We can call it the Industrial district maybe?) where the 10 freeway meets the 5. We arrived at the class an hour and a half early due to a scheduling mistake and had a lot of time to kill.

The first way we spent our time was walking around the neighborhood checking out the plethora of murals on the walls--some skunks, a dinosaur, a train with descriptive smoke. The neighborhood, although strange, was really a neat place for a visit.

On our walk through the neighborhood we spied the famous Church & State restaurant, a pub, a wine store, a hidden community garden and then down a small alley between two brick buildings a tiny cafe.  This cafe is one of those places that if you just had the address you may be driving around for hours trying to pinpoint, but it was the perfect find for our morning.

The first time we stopped by the cafe it was mainly for the use of the bathroom but I also bought a fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. The juice was a pretty bad deal but it was fresh (and therefore sour), but I should have gone for coffee because really that did sound delicious.

Later we returned to the cafe for lunch when our entire party was there.  At the Daily Dose it is rumored that the owner (who was there) makes everything himself.  We heard this news several times from the regulars while we were there. There is very little seating inside, the cafe is absolutely minuscule. Outside, however it has a full alley with tables and chairs, herbs and vines growing up the walls and even a fire pit.

I ordered The Scramble which is described as 3 FFO eggs butter, baguette, jam, heirloom potatoes, house sauce.  It was fantastic! The eggs were cooked just perfectly for my taste mixed with a bit of cheese and scallions scrambled right on top of a piece of baguette. There were a few purple potatoes with a drizzle of house sauce--some kind of spicy chipotle sauce. But the real stand out was the jam on the baguette with butter on it.  The jam is apparently made by the owner, and it was berry with cinnamon or cloves or something in it--an unexpected taste that jumped out at me.  One of my dining companions got the same meal as me but her bread came with apricot jam on it. I like how they mixed it up.

Our other companion had the sandwich which is probably a better deal for the size and amount of food.  Her sandwich was called the Taylor with roasted ham, cheddar, pickles, spicy mustard, sauce verte on a fresh baguette. I understand that it was delicious, particularly the pickles.

I also heard good things about the scones and all the food I saw looked great. The crowd was also the friendly sort--helping us get our plates to the table, chatting across tables and enjoying the scenery on a Saturday morning.  I would love to go back to the Daily Dose but I highly doubt I will because it is in such a strange neighborhood!  If I go to another cooking class though...I will be back there immediately for some of that jam on a buttered baguette.

The Daily Dose
1820 Industrial St Ste 104
Los Angeles, CA 90021
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