Diamond Bakery, the iconic Jewish business that opened in 1946 on Fairfax Avenue, closed its doors on Sunday, December 3 after 77 years in business. Douglas Weinstein, the director of bakery operations of Diamond Bakery Holdings, tells Eater that many factors went into the “painful” decision to shut its doors permanently. Weinstein says that the bakery was losing money every day due to insufficient retail, online, and delivery sales. Additionally, the cost of maintaining the bakery’s aging facility and equipment, including failing water pipes, was insurmountable.

While the Fairfax storefront will be missed by all, Diamond Bakery is teaming up with Bread Los Angeles to continue to make its products available beyond the closure. “Rather than getting caught off guard and losing all ability to produce, I chose to be proactive and find a solution that would keep the brand alive and allow for exponential growth,” says Weinstein. The brand’s loaves of corn rye, seeded rye, seedless rye, and pumpernickel are available for sale at Viktor Benes Continental Bakery (multiple locations) and Gelson’s grocery stores in Marina del Rey, Encino, and Sherman Oaks. More wholesale locations will be added soon.

Bodacious babkas

Saltie Girl LA’s pastry chef Ben Sidell (a.k.a. SweetBoy) is baking up bodacious babkas laced with Ghia hazelnut spread, glazed with vanilla syrup, and topped with chocolate-covered hazelnut bark this holiday season. The $14 babka can be pre-ordered on SweetBoy’s website and picked up at Saltie Girl in West Hollywood from now until December 17.

SweetBoy

New Zealand ice cream in Hermosa Beach

Creamy Boys, the mobile ice cream vendor seen at events like Smorgasburg, Fiesta Hermosa, and the Mar Vista farmers market, is opening a permanent location at 1136 Hermosa Avenue in Hermosa Beach on December 9. Founded by native New Zealander Duncan Parsons in 2020, Creamy Boys ice cream is made to order by blending a vanilla ice cream base with a choice of fresh fruit. The brand’s signature hokey pokey flavor includes house-made honeycomb toffee.

Experience peak hygge

The Fairmont Century Plaza hotel wants Angelenos to get into the holiday spirit by dining in custom-built, highly-cozy faux Swiss chalets. The three-course menu priced at $105 per person includes a welcome glass of Glühwein and hearty Alpine specialties like cheese fondue, braised beef cheeks, and brie and pear soup. Reservations are available here from now through December 31.

Brett O’Brien

New bar bites at Caldo Verde

Chef Suzanne Goin’s restaurant Caldo Verde at the Downtown LA Proper Hotel just introduced a more casual and snackable bar bites menu. Highlights from the new menu include salt cod fritters with saffron aioli and a fried piri piri chicken sandwich. Wines by the glass, including five-ounce pours and 12-ounce carafes, plus new winter cocktails and spirit-free options, are also available. The restaurant accepts walk-ins but reservations are available here.

Big, fat cookies

Levain Bakery in Larchmont Village, purveyors of some of the biggest and fattest cookies around, is bringing back its signature holiday flavor — dark chocolate peppermint — in time for festive parties and jolly gatherings. The holiday cookies are made with extra-dark French cocoa and semisweet chocolate chunks, and dotted with peppermint chips. The shop is also teaming up with Craftspring to sell felt ornaments featuring a Levain cookie inside a blue bag.

Raclette, plus wine pop-up

Daniel Hess, the Switzerland-born owner of the Pasadena-based boutique wine importer and distributor Convivium Imports, is hosting a series of raclette and wine pop-ups this month. Hess will be at Good Clean Fun in Downtown on Sunday, December 7 and at Vintage Wine + Eats in Studio City on Thursday, December 14.