Copenhagen Pastry — Restaurant in Culver City

This place is great.

Far beyond the utilitarian, mass produced sawdust found in America's favorite grocery stores, Copenhagen Pastry is very much an oasis in the Culver City area. Sure, there's a lot of incoming hype from places like Sweet Wheat, which is soon to throw it's hat into the ring of restaurants and eateries with no parking, but with residential so close by, it's not really a problem for them.

For Copenhagen though, it could a have been a huge problem. Except it's not, and as far as I see it, for two reasons. Firstly, they've somehow managed to carve on-site parking along the side of the bakery. I'll be the first to salute Nordic efficiency and engineering, and dare I say that Copenhagen's almost non-Euclidean marvel known as their parking lot is an absolute blessing. Of course there is street parking right out front, but most of the time there will be spot hoarders with hazards on, trying their best to grab half a dozen Spandauer before anyone is the wiser.

Service is interesting at Copenhagen Pastry. True to Scandinavian sensibilities, there's not too much time for chin wagging or jawing with the staff. They are succinct, polite and efficient. Very professional. After all, there is only so much standing room inside the shop, so get your loot and get out. Every so often, there will be a severe manager type leering at proceedings from the doorway leading into the kitchen. It's more funny than it is threatening. Right after the plague ended, I stopped by to get a case of treats for friends and family. I made a joke about a "Baker's Dozen," and the authority figure overseeing operations quickly chopped the joke off with an icy and direct "We don't do that here." Still quite charming, in that exceedingly Viking way.

To the matter at hand; pastry. It's delightful. What more can be said. It's good. That's a far cry better than %90 of the trash that gets served at overpriced dens of iniquity (looking at you, Superba.) Fruit preserves, sweet cheese, cinnamon, it's all there in whatever format you can imagine. Spandauer, Copenhagen, and the delightful Napoleon's Hat are personal favorites. The plain bread roll is great, too.

It's all good. Everything in the case is as if it were tailor-made for the Westsider's palate. Crispy, flavorful, but not TO flavorful, light and fast. It's high-tier Danish pastry designed for the Angeleno on the go.

The cakes are full-blown slept on by the general public. They are very well priced, and very delicious. Try something different next time you need a cake....

I came here because I was in the area and saw that it had 5 stars and raving reviews, so I wanted to see what all the hype was. I definitely have a sweet tooth (I truly believe there's no greater joy than a fresh, soft, perfectly baked donut with a glass of milk), and Danish pastries would be a new thing for me. I thought, let's do it.

I walked in, and to my surprise, it was one of the simplest interiors of a bakery I had ever seen! The variety there wasn't particularly large, and the pastries weren't really a wonder to behold, either. There were no customers when I entered in the afternoon. What's so great about this place? I had to know.

First of all, the sweetest lady (owner Karen Hansen I believe) came to greet me. She seemed genuinely interested in my taste of pastry and sweets in general, and told me every little detail about every item behind the glass that looked interesting to me. She was so nice and positive when she interacted with me, it made a big difference in my experience there!

What I did not expect were all the samples she allowed me to try. I'm not talking tiny bite sized pastry pieces, I'm talking about a full strip of the pastry that encompasses all the flavors and decorations to give me the full taste of what I would be buying. I'm sure there would probably be a limited number of samples to try if the place was very busy, but she gave me anything I asked to try!

Pretty much every pastry I tried was fantastic. They were perfectly flaky and SO light, I just couldn't believe it. I'm usually not a huge fan of custard filling, but something about these almond fillings was so delicious! I ended up getting the copenhagen and the cinnamon, and both were definitely to my satisfaction. I even shared with a friend (which they genuinely encourage, btw) and my friend loved it too!

I also recommend watching the video on their website; it's nice to know these pastries are made by such dedicated positive individuals! Also, I LOVE food art, and the pastry making process is just fantastically filmed in the video. Hats off, very well-made short video...

Food: wonderful, authentic Danish pastries at a very reasonable rate. I've always gone with the orders of kringles as it's probably their signature, if not the best, offering they have so if it's your first time, I would recommend the kringle to start with then work your way around the other pastries that hit your fancy. Service: efficient although I am not sure why, the young woman I've had at the register seems cold and her unsmiling presence is a little unsettling. She is efficient and professional so she will get your orders in without issue but I have yet to experience the friendly staff that some of the reviewers rave about.

Ambiance: Unfortunately the bakery has no seating so you won't be able to enjoy a morning coffee with your pastry and read a newspaper to start the day. The parking situation is not the greatest, there are two metered areas and a small lot just behind the building.

I would recommend coming in on the weekends since the traffic and parking situation significantly improve, giving ample time to...