Cafe 2001

The first time I visited an early version of Cafe 2001 last fall, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the pork katsu sandwich—the meat slipped out from between the slices of milk bread as I tried to eat—and the seasonal fruit tart was just fine. Since then, however, chef Giles Clark has expanded and refined the menu to include a litany of British-influenced delights, including smoked trout with hashbrowns and huckleberry jam, a thick-cut bacon sandwich and a pistachio-studded terrine. Unlike most L.A. openings, Cafe 2001 serves the kind of subtle, light but still delicious cuisine perfect for a casual breakfast or midday meal. For sweets, I liked the jelly doughnuts and a fudgy matcha canéle, which helped me round out the fleet of thoughtfully constructed daytime beverages—an iced seasonal fruit matcha latte and housemade cascara cola among them. I’ve yet to try the afternoon menu or cocktail offerings, but if those are anything at all like the café-centric parts of the menu, they’re just as great.