Friday, August 29, 2008

Fix Coffee - Echo Park


I love living in Echo Park. We moved here from Silver Lake back in October, a few days before we found out I was pregnant. One of my favorite things about Echo Park is the true collective appreciation you sense when new cafes and restaurants open up in our still up-and-coming neighborhood.

There have been a slew of openings in the past few months with The Park (love it!), Lot 1 (before Josef Centeno left), and the soon-to-be-opened Two Boots. We thought 15, which has received much attention and is just down the street from us, was boring, overrated, and seriously mediocre. Too bad, as it seemed to have much potential.

Fix Coffee just opened this past week and, sure enough, it's already a community hub. Max went for morning coffee yesterday and then the three of us went for afternoon coffee. We weren't sure of their hours as their website is still under construction (c'mon guys, add at least the phone # and hours!) but we decided to head down the hill around 5pm to see if they were still open.

There were local moms and toddlers hanging out on the patio, people working on their laptops, curious locals eager to try the gelato and coffees, and even one of our favorite yoga teachers. It was bustling.

What a great space Marc, the owner, has created in the most odd location up the street on Echo Park Avenue. Modern, with dark woods and bright orange, the space is spare yet warm, probably due to Marc and his manager's enthusiasm. Marc introduced himself to us, said hi to Nate and quickly made our cappuccinos.


What am I most excited about? First of all, they are not messing around with the coffee. Even my decaf, non-fat cappuccino was superb and Max, ever the picky coffee snob, was equally impressed. The pastries, from Susina, are hard to resist but resist we did! The kind folks at Fix will even order Susina stuff for you if you don't want to make the schlep to La Brea.


The paninis offered included brie with pear, tomato and white cheddar, and gypsy salami and provolone. They also have a few salads, which were sold out by the time we were there. The gelato, which Marc insisted we try, was dangerous. Usually the short drive to Pazzo successfully prevents us from indulging but this may be irresistible. He gets it from a friend in Michigan (Palazzolo's?) and is eager to share tastes with his customers.


Most importantly, Fix is very baby-friendly with a big outdoor patio (more landscaping to come) and low-key Echo Park vibe. I'm certain the three of us will be spending many more mornings, afternoons, and evenings at Fix.

Fix Coffee
2100 Echo Park Avenue
www.fixcoffeeco.com

3 comments:

Food, she thought. said...

nice blog, neighbor!! Can't wait to try fix.

Jess said...

Love the idea for the baby-oriented resto/eats blog. And as a parent to an active toddler, I must say -- enjoy this infant phase. We certainly went out as much as possible once I could function in the world through the baby haze. But if your kid is anything like mine, eating out as a two- or threesome will become a challenge. Never thought I'd be one of THOSE parents who only did "kid friendly" stuff etc. Yet come a certain time (walking, mostly), eating out just became too challenging to be fun, and there was nothing I could do about it other than adjust.

Not trying to scare you! Maybe you'll have better luck than I have in the cooperative kid dept. I look forward to reading about your experiences eating out avec bebe, and wish you congratulations and best of luck!

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