The Curious Baker

Looked for this place for a while today and was told at The Curious Palate that the bakery has been closed for a year. MARK AS CLOSED.

This place is incredibly delicious. I get the Rustica, every time. It’s a savory, cheesy, hammy party for your mouth. Mmmmmm. Drooling already just thinking about it.

Iced Americano was great. The peanut butter sandwich cookie was a sugar bomb from hell. Luckily I like sweets with my coffee. I couldn’t finish half but I did like the half that I did eat. The filling was a bit soft and was all over the bag before I even picked it up. The bakers were nice, well, at least one was.

I got a chicken salad wrap, already prepared. But delicious!
I also ordered 2 cookies, which are insanely good!
I’m glad I ran into this place. Would definitely go again and recommend it to people!

Butter croissant was so good as I closed my eyes it took me back to the Paris 5^th arrondissement I used to live in! and the cappuccino was intelligentsia and so delicious and foamy– mmm;) great place to sit and sip too!

I love this little bakery! Rob has always been nice to me. I also found out we share the same birthday! He’s a fellow armadillo Too! yoohoo! Everything is freakin yummy! Miss you Rob !! –Alej

This spot is on the other side of the promenade in the outdoor shopping mall. It’s upstairs in a corner and kind of hidden away with a few other stores. We were hungry looking for something small to eat and stumbled upon this bakery.
The bread caught my eye so i had to buy a loaf. The worker said they were made fresh every day — SOLD. Got a loaf of the multigrain bread but it was 9 bucks! Very good bread but cost me an arm and a leg. We also got a turkey and broccoli quiche that was mediocre. The worker had to heat it up for us but it was still cold on the inside. It tied us over but I probably wouldn’t order it again.

Zero stars if I could. The only thing curious about this place is how crappy the bread is and how disinterested the staff are. I’m spoiled by real baguette from my time in Paris. It’s amazing to me how hard it is to find in LA. Amandine is decent, Bay Cities is good too (though not really baguette). You’d think a place called the Curious Baker would make decent baguette. It sucked. It was worse than what I can buy at Vons. It was neither crunchy nor fluffy. Instead it was kinda chewy stale inside and out. I did buy it later in the day, about 3PM but who goes to a mall at 7AM!!! Bay Cities has fresh baked bread coming out of the oven all day long. To top it off, the guy who worked there was completely aloof and disinterested. The entire food court was deserted, so he had to notice me but proceeded to shuffle trays and organize the kitchen several more minutes after I arrived before helping me. He barely said a word either.

I was going to grab a cup of coffee and a pastry or muffin until I saw the baker in the back cracking eggs this morning with his long hair loosely flowing over his bowl. Then he went and inserted his ear buds in and proceeded to crack eggs. Hands, earbuds, eggs. All in that sequence. Oh look now he’s rolling dough with his loose hair shaking and flowing all over the dough. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but obviously hasn’t a clue of common sense. Owner must not get it or does but leaves it up to the manager, who obviously is also ok with this level of sanitary practice.

Ran into this place after walking around Santa Monica place and noticed they had a juice bar! I was planning on working out with Nike downstairs that evening so a nice, healthy refuel was needed. The girl behind the counter was polite but terse; the area was dead so she was probably bored.
I decided on the kiwi nectar– kiwi, apple, celery, spinach, and kale– for $ 7.50. The juice was good but there was a piece of celery floating on the inside, which isn’t a big deal but that’s never happened to me at any other juicery and it just felt a little sloppy to me. All in all nothing about the menu gave me a reason to come back so I’ll skip it.

I don’t get this place at all. The counter help is either surly, confused, half asleep or indifferent every time I’ve been there. They barely know what items they’re selling and I never see any ‘baking’ going on which I find ‘curious’. Everything is overpriced and they hardly ever have any customers. You’d think they’d be nicer to the people that step up to their counter. I for one am not going back.

I“m a big fan of cake money, so when I saw their pastries here, I had to get one. I got croissant but unfortunately, it tasted old. After I had a bite, I told them, it tastes old so they changed it to different croissant. When I asked «are you sure this is from today? because it tastes old» and they said yes, it’s from today. Maybe it’s not good anymore because that’s from this morning and it was already 6−7pm.
I’ve had cake monkey’s pastries so many times and I never had problem with their pastries. And they weren’t cheap. They costs $ 4 – 5 each. Oh, and they weren’t friendly.

this curious palate empire is taking over the market place and i love it!!! they are doing great, honestly. just came to buy a simple baguette. nothing fancy! the price was just $ 2 and that’s all i wished for and they had it. the bread went so well with my cured meats and cheese that night. thanks!

This place is a diet destroyer!!! I walked in after eating lunch and even though I was stuffed I couldn’t resist trying this apple pastry thing that was incredible! I really liked the girl working there who was very nice a funny. I cant wait to go back and try the chocolate croissants!!!

Great spot for a quality coffee or tea, (Intelligentsia organic coffees), and fresh baked goods straight from the oven. I could gain some serious weight here as everything I have tried is excellent. The service is really good, cookies are decadent as are the sweet rolls and cakes.
Milk chocolate brownies with seas alt and pistachios are probably zero calories. Those who frequent the Curious Palette are familiar with the talent level here. I just hope the Mall is busy enough to sustain their business.
If not, move to Montana St and you’ll be packed!

Mini homemade s’mores with homemade marshmallows!!! I hope this place doesn’t go out of business because the location is hidden on the top level of the mall.

Bottom line at the top: great spot to grab morning pastries :)
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My parents and I wanted some coffee and pastries before an appointment nearby so we drifted into the market area to find something. This and groundworks were the only places open. I’d previously only heard about groundworks so we went there and since the line was super long my parents came here to check out the pastries. The Nutella croissant was so good that I went back and got another and a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant). I saw that they use intelligentsia and was telling my parents that we should ditch the groundworks line but the employee here said that their coffee was much better. I’m not sure if that was honesty or laziness but it was surprising in a good way. :)

A little confused about the reviews, but no matter. I came looking for baked goods, not drinks/​smoothies. When I refer to baked goods, I am referring to baguettes, breads, not the sweet type. And boy does the curious baker deliver.
While a lot of people wouldn’t describe eating a simple baguette as a life altering experience, this is truly how I feel about bread in general, that it can really change your life.
The baguette is dense. So if you’re looking for a light, airy type, then skip this. It is dense, it is aromatic (warning leaving in your car will definitely make your car smell like a delicious bakery). The outside has a marvelous crunch and I almost ate the thing in one sitting. And it is quite large.

The cashier looked and acted stoned, got pissedoff at the expresso machine, scared couple customers, dirty counter dirty kitchen. He put his hands in his ears before handing me my told and dry croissants. worst hot chocolate hands down… don’t waste your money, go next door… even ⁷⁄₁₁ is better trust me

I had to find sth to eat during the cooking class, so this one is pretty fast.
The smoothie I ordered was good. I think it was blueberry and banana. Well, you cannot go wrong with smoothie, or hardly. $ 8 for a 16 oz smoothie is rather expensive though. maybe the rent for SM location isn’t cheap.