Helms Bakery now open in Culver City

I've driven by the Helms Bakery complex in Culver City hundreds of times. The official bread sign from the 1932 Olympic Games still stands above the building. But for the first time since the bakery closed its doors in 1969, loaves of bread are growing again at Helms.

Sang Yoon, the chef behind Father's Office, opened a reimagined version of the bakery in the Helms complex, right across the street from his gastropub and a stone's throw from his now-closed trendy Southeast Asian restaurant, Lukshon, which peaked at No. 3 on the Times. List of Los Angeles' 101 Best Restaurants of 2016 The bakery project, which Yoon says he's been dreaming about for more than a decade, finally came to life Friday morning.

“Mentally, they've taken 12 years to develop,” Yoon says, walking through the bakery. “Construction lasted about two years. It's kind of cool that there's a Helms Bakery now. For another generation.”

If you're of a certain age, you may remember seeing delivery trucks driving around Los Angeles. While Yoon doesn't plan to have a wholesale business or bring back the yellow and blue trucks, he did build a 14,000-square-foot space that includes separate areas to house a cafe, a kitchen, a bakery on the ground floor, and a bakery on the top floor. upper floor. hall and a large central market area with hot and cold prepared foods and a selection of elite snacks.

Every two minutes, the entire room turns its attention to a flipboard on the back wall. It comes to life and then displays the daily specials, fun facts about Helms, and what's coming next at the bakery.

Adjacent to the market is Dinette, a restaurant and bar that Yoon plans to open next year. But now there's a lot to be excited about. Here's a very specific rundown of 13 of my favorites:

1. Bread and everything that accompanies bread.

Three garlic butters and a Toma cheese-filled baguette at the new Helms Bakery.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

Baker Jacob Fraijo, who previously worked for restaurants Bouchon and Robuchon and chef Dominque Crenn, makes 10 to 12 varieties of bread each day, including loaves of Pain de Mie, country bread baked as a Pullman loaf, soft pretzels and baguettes .

“I really like the Pain de mie bread that we are making,” says Fraijo. “I feel like people don't associate those breads with high quality or an artisanal approach, but it really is. “We approach it with the same intensity and focus as our croissants.”

“It has to do with the Helms story, the idea of making very high-quality soft bread,” Yoon adds. “I love the idea of having a loaf of bread at home.”

Below the daily bread selection is an area of the store that Yoon calls “things that go with bread,” where you'll find everything you could need to build a cheese and charcuterie board. There is also an area that houses tubs of garlic butter. Almost black in color, the butter is packed with bits of roasted garlic and something that tastes like sweet black garlic. It is ideal for spreading the half Fraijo baguette filled with Toma cheese.

2. Delicatessen sandwiches made with bread baked at 20 steps

The shaved bologna sandwich from the new Helms Bakery in Culver City.

The prepared food section is packed with cold sandwiches, wraps and kimbap. Executive chef Nanor Harboyan, who used to cook at Destroyer, loves that the bread for the sandwiches is made just meters away, in the large open bakery at the back of the building. Guests can peek throughout the day to see what comes out of the oven.

The egg salad is served with pan de mie. The turkey comes on sliced country bread. I'm partial to shaved bologna on a half baguette with lots of crushed pistachios.

3. Breakfast

A breakfast plate with a cookie from the new Helms Bakery.

During the morning hours, the hot bar offers breakfast burritos, sandwiches and entrees. If you have time to stay, grab the plate and eat it on the sunny front patio. The biscuit is warm and flaky, the scrambled eggs are fluffy, and there's a cup of syrup to dip the sausage and bacon into.

4. Donuts

A passion fruit fritter from Helms Bakery.

It's impossible to know what donuts will be available when you visit. All areas of the bakery will evolve throughout the day. What's there in the morning may not be there in the afternoon, and many of the items are seasonal. But if you see a passion fruit fritter in the pastry case, grab it. As far as donuts go, it's a textbook-perfect donut, with a crunchy, twisty crust and a soft, chewy center. It's topped with a sweet passion fruit glaze and topped with toasted coconut shavings.

5. Carrot salad

Carrot salad from the cold prepared food section of Helms Bakery.

Is it strange to recommend a carrot salad? Maybe, but it's my favorite cold case salad, filled with big white bowls piled high with corn and poblano salad, gochujang cauliflower, and dill potatoes. Harboyan wanted to include dishes inspired by her Middle Eastern heritage, and carrot salad is one of them. Add carrot strips to a tahini dressing with crunchy cashews, sesame seeds and daikon squares.

6. All that cake and pie

A slice of honey corn pie at the new Helms Bakery.

When Harboyan joined the team six months ago, the first thing she worked on was the cake. To create the specific cherry pie Yoon had in mind, Harboyan worked with Lloyd Pans in Washington state to create a custom pie pan. Made of aluminum with a special non-stick coating, the pan conducts heat in a way that allows bakers to obtain a perfect golden crust. The shape of the can also allows for a generous amount of filling. Each slice is bursting with sweet cherries.

Honey Corn Cake is similar to your favorite cornbread, dense, sandy, and full of honey-drenched corn flavor. It could be breakfast. It could be dessert.

The slab-shaped cakes are cut into neat triangles that you can eat in your car (pie a la car). Yuzu and ginger slice tops a fluffy white cake with tangy lemon curd and candied ginger.

7. Melting

The pastrami sandwich at the new Helms Bakery.

I'm not sure you can accurately classify the pastrami sandwich as melted, but it's close. Harboyan and Yoon created a Russian Korean dressing that has a hint of spicy mustard; spread over chopped pastrami, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. The sandwich is heated on the flat surface until the bread is shiny and toasted.

A burger melt from the hot food section of Helms Bakery.

The burger melt is a real burger, with a loose patty of ground beef and chopped onion, American cheese, and extra pickles. It's on par with the burger Yoon is making across the street at Father's Office.

8. Chicken wings

An order of brown sugar glazed chicken wings at the new Helms Bakery.

The hot bar features a selection of vegetable sides and Costco-style whole roasted chickens in paper bags, fried chicken, meatloaf, and salmon filets. The chicken wings might be the best of the bunch, with crispy skin lacquered in a sweet and spicy brown sugar glaze.

9. Hot dogs, something like that

Fraijo's pastries encompass all forms of laminated dough, with a variety of croissants and hand pies. Its greatest feat may be the hot dog, a thick sausage wrapped in flaky croissant dough and topped with all the bagel seasoning. It breaks like a good croissant. It's better than a pretzel dog. It's better than a hot dog. It's better than you imagine.

10. Dole Whip

A cup of Dole Whip from the new Helms Bakery. Soft serve ice cream is available in the cafe.

There are certain food rules that I think every Angeleno should follow. Eating Dole Whip, the whipped pineapple soft serve that originated at Disney World in the mid-1980s, is one of them. For years, it could not be found beyond the gates of Disneyland. While it's now available in some places outside of the theme parks, it's still a rare sight.

Yoon is pouring swirls of Dole Whip in the cafeteria.

11. Cheap ice cream

Inexpensive ice cream is available in the freezer section of the new Helms Bakery.

Pints of Thrifty ice cream are available in the freezer section of the market. There are a variety of flavors, including the hands-down best flavor: Chocolate Malted Krunch.

12. Pet Toys

Pet toys and treats are available in the market area of the new Helms Bakery in Culver City.

On the market, there is an impressive variety of stuffed toys with baguettes, French fries and hot dogs for your pets to chew on as they please. If you need a bag of duck heart treats, you'll find those too.

13. Food candles

A selection of food-themed candles on the market at the new Helms Bakery.

I don't know if I've seen a better selection of candles that look like food at any of the other superettes in town. Blush-colored heirloom tomatoes, pebble-skinned avocados, honey jars, garlic bulbs, artichokes, ears of corn, precisely sized raspberries, and pasta shapes are reinvented in wax, but They look real.

Although the number of items in the bakery and market must already be approaching 1,000, Yoon is just getting started. And I didn't even get into Sprite Tic Tacs and peach-flavored Oreos.

Eventually, he plans to introduce a traditional Helms line with items recreated from the original bakery.

“It won't be a continuation of what they had, but I hope the people who had it will remember the joy they had and not necessarily the product,” he says. “Even though it's a completely different experience, I hope the kids come here and have an equally amazing experience that they will remember for a lifetime.”

Now that you know what to buy, here's where to go

Helms Bakery, 3220 Helms Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 559-0220 ext. 6, helmsbakery.la