There's been much fanfare about Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, which recently opened in Highland Park next to the future home of liquor store/deli Tinfoil. This is largely because Holmes boasts yet another portmanteau pastry: the cruffin—the cronut's cousin. They're croissants, baked in a muffin pan, filled with cream and covered in sugar. The bakery puts out these cruffins daily at 9 a.m. in various flavors, and they usually run out in short order. Holmes serves many other pastries, however, which means you won't have to line up around the block to get your hands on the goods.
Mr. Holmes comes via San Francisco, and they've got another shop in South Korea. Their Highland Park shop opened in late September, and they're already planning a second L.A. area outpost in Larchmont Village for 2017. The Highland Park store is a bright space with concrete floors, white tiles and shiny, gold tables. Everything about it is very trendy, from their white bakery boxes with sleek gold lettering, to the neon sign that reads, "I got baked in Los Angeles."
I stopped by on Halloween, assuming the impending trick-or-treating sugar rush would allow me to finally get a look at their fare without a line or crowd. I was right. They hadn't even run out of cruffins, for once. And to be honest, the cruffin wasn't even my favorite item.
Mr. Holmes has some savory offerings, including a bacon and onion danish and a thick slab of bread pudding that offers a cheesy, herb taste instead of sugar. Brand Manager Rene Montelongo suggests taking one of those home and putting a fried egg on top.
The donuts are pretty, poised upright in white paper cups, each filled with a sweet cream and dusted with sugar. On this particular day, they had a chocolate coconut and a seasonally appropriate apple pie, but flavors change daily. The cookies are also perfectly chewy, and the monkey bread topped with puppy chow will satisfy even the most gluttonous sweet tooth. But the real winner here is the strawberry jalapeno claw. If the cruffins don't live up to the hype for you, get the bear claw. It has the same flaky goodness found in the cruffin and the fruit danishes, but inside is a prodigious amount of sweet pink cream. The jalapeno kick is not significant and it's very much tamed by the creaminess, but it results in an interesting flavor that's not too syrup-y, like how other filled desserts can be.
Mr. Holmes opens at 8 a.m. daily, and also does coffee, espresso, tea and chai. And if you like your pastries without a line, there's always the neighborhood favorite Christy's Donuts on York Boulevard.
Mr. Holmes Bakehouse is located at 111 S Ave 59 in Highland Park, 323-739-0473.
