It takes confidence to open a cafe-bakery next door to a Starbucks, but Anna Delorefice, a pastry chef who has worked at both Spagos, and Jenna Turner, who managed the Farm of Beverly Hills (among other restaurants), have done it. Starbucks and Sugarplum Bakery are so different, though, there's no contest.
Decorated with Moroccan floor tiles, crystal-beaded chandeliers and budget Art Nouveau touches, Sugarplum is an improbable peacock of a bakery. Mahogany-stained tables and a sleek banquette covered in paisley furnish the lofty, light-drenched space on Beverly Boulevard just west of La Brea Avenue. The 4-month-old bakery is a haven of civility where patrons arrive with papers or books tucked under their arms and, lulled by the relaxed atmosphere, never get around to opening their briefcases or laptops.
Customers line up in front of the tall mahogany-and-glass pastry case to contemplate an array of pretty butter-cream cakes, shimmering fruit tarts, demure petits fours and dainty cookies. In the mornings, the neighborhood stops in for flaky croissants, cheese danishes and cinnamon twists to enjoy with a frothy latte or cappuccino.
Sugarplum opens early. When I called to ask how early, a friendly voice told me 7 a.m. but added that if I needed to pick up a croissant or pastry on my way to work, I could go around to the back even earlier.
