Etiquette Coffee

Matcha, and a pastry case to match it

Matcha is the drink people talk about at Etiquette Coffee, and it is the clearest way into a menu that otherwise sticks to essentials: cold brew, latte, cappuccino, americano and the espresso drinks you would expect. The house makes no case for a particular roaster or origin, so the coffee is best judged in the cup rather than on paper. Cold brew is the default for the walk back, and the espresso drinks are made to a standard rather than to a theme.

The food is where the choice widens. The case holds bagels, plain, almond and chocolate croissants, a ham and cheese croissant, a tomato, pesto and cheese flatbread, a blueberry scone and a pumpkin one, plus a breakfast burrito with fried eggs and refried beans for anyone who arrives hungry rather than peckish.

A small Arts District stop with tables outside

This is a compact coffee-and-breakfast room in the Los Angeles Arts District, built for a neighbourhood that walks and works nearby. There is outdoor seating, which in this part of the city matters more than a large interior, and the tone stays informal: order at the counter, take a table outside, stay as long as the morning allows.

It suits casual meetings and solo mornings better than a long lunch. The format is deliberately small, which is why it works as a stop between other things rather than a destination in itself, and why the pastry case rather than the room is what you end up remembering.

Order the matcha with an almond croissant

Matcha with an almond croissant is the order to default to: the drink the café is known for, and the pastry that best rewards a slow ten minutes at a table. If coffee is the point instead, a cappuccino with the blueberry scone does the same job in a more traditional register.

Cold brew and a bagel is the quicker version for anyone passing through. The savoury end of the case is worth knowing about too, since the ham and cheese croissant and the tomato, pesto and cheese flatbread turn a coffee stop into something closer to lunch. And when eggs sound better than pastry, the breakfast burrito is the most filling thing on the board.