Two of Los Angeles’s most talented bakers, Clémence de Lutz (the Gourmadise School) and Tony Hernandez (Bread Lounge, Friends & Family, Dough Box), are teaming up to open a new bakery in Santa Monica. Located at 1209 Wilshire Boulevard, Petit Grain Boulangerie is set to debut on Wednesday, May 1, in the former Broadway Baker space, which closes this Saturday, April 13.

Set in a 900-square-foot space, Petit Grain Boulangerie will serve a tightly focused menu of laminated pastries (croissants, pain au chocolate, Danishes), hand pies, cookies, quiches, sandwiches, and pan loaves. Plans to offer sourdough-style bread are slated for the future, along with New York-style pizzas served on Friday and Saturday evenings. Precise technique and careful ingredient sourcing will make Petit Grain Boulangerie stand out in Los Angeles’s crowded bakery scene.

“Twenty percent of the total amount of flour that we use will be locally sourced and milled. Our fruits and vegetables will all come from the Santa Monica farmers market,” de Lutz tells Eater. Additionally, the bakery’s chocolate will be traceable and ethically sourced. Petit Grain Boulangerie will be open Wednesday through Sunday and will operate mainly for takeout given its small footprint.

Petit Grain Boulangerie

Taco lovers unite

L.A. Taco’s Taco Madness is happening this Saturday, April 13 at the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Downtown (501 N. Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012). The 15th annual event starts at 6 p.m. and will celebrate the city’s incredible taco scene with 12 taquerias serving their best tacos. The day’s best-in-show winner, as well as the results of the online Taco Madness tournament, will be announced at the event’s conclusion. Tickets are available here.

Viet-Cajun seafood soiree

Echo Park’s the Lonely Oyster is teaming up with East Hollywood’s Bé Ù for two Viet-Cajun dinners on April 11 and 12. Tickets are priced at $150 and include Louisiana-inflected Vietnamese mash-ups like cornbread with whipped lemongrass honey butter and plum salt, raw oysters with Old Bé chile crisp, and pandan beignets with avocado dulce de leche ice cream.

Tsk, tsk Trader Joe’s

Taste takes a closer look at Monrovia’s own Trader Joe’s in a report detailing the problematic tactics of the beloved grocery store chain concerning product development. “Trader Joe’s commonly solicits product samples and even asks for potential recipe adjustments — a revealing and time-consuming exercise for bootstrapped founders — before inexplicably abandoning the negotiations and releasing its own private-label versions of similar products at lower prices,” writes Adam Reiner.

626 Night Market heads to the Westside

The 626 Night Market is popping up in Santa Monica (1324 5th Street – Lot 27) on April 13 and 14 from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event will include Vietnamese vendors (Cafe 949, the Ugly Bao, Ridges Churro Bar, All Dat Dumpling, and All Dat Noodle) to coincide with the premiere of Max’s The Sympathizer based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by author Viet Thanh Nguyen. The event is free but tickets are required.

Two new LA cookbooks

First up, Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson of Kismet in Los Feliz are releasing a cookbook on May 7 featuring more than 100 recipes highlighting the “casual California cool and vibrant Mediterranean-inspired flavors“ that the restaurant is known for. Recipes include a salty-sweet persimmon salad and harissa party wings. Kismet can be pre-ordered here.

Second, globally inspired ice cream shop Wanderlust is releasing a cookbook on June 4. Wanderlust Creamery Presents: The World of Ice Cream includes 80 “deeply researched and developed” ice cream flavors, including Sticky Rice and Mango, Ube Malted Crunch, and Japanese Neapolitan. The book is available for pre-order here.