Friends and Family

Heritage grains at the centre of the bake

The grain choice comes first at Friends & Family. The loaves are built on heritage grains, chosen for flavour complexity and nutritional integrity rather than commodity wheat alone, and sourced locally and sustainably. That single decision runs through everything on the counter, giving the bread a flavour and texture story before any pastry is decorated. It is also why the bake is more than a display of sweets.

The bakery, café and seasonal marketplace opened in East Hollywood’s Thai Town on May 9, 2017, from Roxana Jullapat and Daniel Mattern, both alumni of Cooks County and veterans of AOC, Lucques and Campanile. Jullapat leads the pastry and bread side; Mattern shapes the produce-driven kitchen. Fifteen years of Los Angeles cooking sit behind the split, and the marketplace idea behind the name is what holds the two halves together.

A counter, a case and a marketplace

The East Hollywood original works as counter service rather than a full-service dining room. You order at the counter, browse the baked goods, seasonal dishes, pastries and handmade candies, then take limited seating or carry it out. The room has been called stylishly hip, but its working rhythm is practical: breakfast, lunch plates, breads, pastries and café service all orbit the same counter.

Dinner was floated when the project was announced and never became the identity; the original branch settled into being a breakfast-and-lunch destination instead. It is also distinct from the later Silverlake outpost and from Friends and Family Pizza Co. at The Original Farmers Market, which share the name but not the same counter.

Start at the bread, then the pastry case

Let the heritage grain breads set the direction. They are the clearest expression of Jullapat’s work as baker and pastry chef, made as artisan loaves on traditional craft lines with grains picked for what they taste like rather than what they yield.

From there, move to the seasonal pastries when fruit and produce are driving the day’s bake, or to the handmade candy when the marketplace side of the counter is part of the visit. For a fuller meal, Mattern’s side brings produce-driven seasonal dishes made on the same local, sustainable sourcing. The pleasure is in the collaboration: bread and pastry craft on one side, seasonal cooking on the other, shaped into a neighbourhood bakery-café routine. Come early enough and both sides of that partnership are on the counter at once.