Amandine Patisserie, Brentwood {restaurant} - Add Another One to the Egg Roll

It's another one to add to the list of breakfast/brunch places on the westside - Amandine Patissserie on Wilshire Blvd, just west of Bundy ("Brentwood adjacent"). At noon on a Saturday there, people had everything from a croissant and coffee to enormous french toast, from fluffy omelettes to quiche and a salad. Chowhound has mentioned it as a place to get a great grilled cheese sandwich, but i only remember seeing a croque madame on the chalkboard menu behind the counter - not quite a grilled cheese.

"Amandine" sounds French but the omelettes aren't French-y crepe-style, rolled around a filling. They are fat and puffy, with the ingredients — avocado, roast chicken, sun dried tomatoes, and melted cheese — cooked right into the eggs, much like a frittata. The best thing there, though is what comes on the side for breakfast, the potatoes. They remind me of the scalloped potatoes that go with pork chops and green beans - thinly sliced potatoes, baked until oozing and bubbling with cream sauce and melted cheese. Mix those potatoes in with eggs to make an omelette and I'd be in breakfast heaven.

The eggs and other items on the menu are good, but I couldn't go to Amandine and not get a pastry! It is, after all, a patisserie! The case in front of the door has three shelves of cakes, tarts, pies and other desserts which, when buying one piece for $5 doesn't seem like much, but at almost $30 for a whole cake certainly sounds a teeny bit expensive. The glassed-in counter next to the register has breads, and the last case has gorgeous pastries; everything from flaky almond or chocolate croissants to danishes to dense, crumbly scones to triangles of sparkling raspberry tarts.

Many complain of not enough hours in a day - at Amandine, i cry "why aren't there more notches to let out my belt?"

originally published March 5, 2005