From Nectarine Pizza To Rum-Soaked Apricots: Stone Fruit Season Is Back In L.A.

There's no time like the present, right? Especially if the present is stone fruit season.

Stone fruits—so we're all on the same page—are technically any drupe, and are characterized by a fleshy exterior surrounding a hard shell (or stone) protecting an inner seed. But while this blanket term covers everything from coffee beans to pistachios to even raspberries, the more colloquial definition covers members of the plant genus Prunus. The genus includes plums, yellow peaches, white peaches, cherries, apricots, pluots, nectarines, and almonds—in summary: heaven's bounty.

The first of these stone fruits to come into season are cherries. Cherries begin to appear at farmers markets and groceries around April. And the season for plums lasts the latest (into November). But for all these fruits, peak season tends to fall squarely in line with summer: May through August. And trust me, I look forward to it all year. When I bought my first yellow peach of 2017 the other day, I almost didn't eat it out of sheer excitement. Am I overdoing it? Maybe. But the point is that I can't get enough stone fruit, and wanted to share this love with you. So, here's a roundup of some stone fruit desserts we've been spotting around town.

Officine Brera

The Macedonia allo Zabaglione is a plate of stone fruit topped with sherry zabaglione (an egg yolk and sweet wine mix, also known as sabayone) and almond tuile (a sweet thin wafer).

Officine Berera is located at 1331 East 6th Street in Los Angeles. (213) 553-8006

Valerie Confections

The Rampart Village-headquartered bakery is all-in on stone fruits. Valerie is serving up an apricot, peach and basil cream galette, as well as a cherry and vanilla hand pie, and an almond crumble pie with various stone fruits (fun fact: almonds actually belong to the Prunus genus, and are technically a stone fruit).

Valerie Confections has multiple locations.

Alma
Chef Ari Taymor and team have found a home at The Standard Hotel in West Hollywood. That means that their menu (packed with playful, beautiful, delicious creations) is back for us to enjoy. To wit: Glazed cherries paired with soy sorbet. Sweet and salty, creamy and bright. How's that for a punch in the mouth?

Alma is located at 8300 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. (323) 822-3131

Lodge Bread
How do you make the ultimate summer sweets dish? Pair peaches with tomatoes. Lodge serves up a bowl of just that, topped with dill and shavings of sharp cheese. God bless America.

Lodge Bread Co. is located at 11918 Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles. (424) 384-5097

Union

Union has taken their stone fruit dish in a more savory direction. The dish, called Bitter Lettuces, takes roasted stone fruit, and pairs it with torn bread, dukkah, and a crème fraiche-poppyseed dressing.

Union is located at 37 East Union Street in Pasadena. (626) 795-5841

Tavern

Tavern's Apricot-Ginger Coupe features rum-soaked apricots paired with ginger-flavored ice cream and topped with a pizelle (an Italian waffle cookie).

Tavern is located at 11648 San Vicente Boulevard in Los Angeles. (310) 806-6464

Rosaliné
Ricardo Zarate's nascent restaurant (it opened this month) is serving a flavorosa plum crostada with a purple corn spread, fermented umeboshi plums, and is topped with chancaca (a South American sweet sauce made with unrefined sugar and orange peel) ice cream.

Rosaline is located at 8479 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. (323) 297-9500

WP24

Chef Megan Potthoff has created a cherry pie that is topped with a toasted almond ice cream (yes, please!), and is also serving an apricot cremeux that takes sweetened condensed milk, and tops it with house-made apricot sauce and pickled apricots, along with some crispy sesame mocha.

WP24 is located at 900 West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. (213) 743-8824

Milo & Olive

Another savory stone fruit creation is the Nectarine and Bacon pizza at Milo & Olive. The seasonal specialty combines nectarines, braised bacon, fontina cream, thyme, and balsamic vinegar.

Milo & Olive is located at 2723 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. (310) 453-6776