Rex Bakery

Rex Bakery on Sawtelle is a tiny, family-run bakery with excellent homemade desserts and baked goods. Their signature items are cream puffs, which come out flakey and fluffy, and the kind of pastry you’re required to eat at least three of in one sitting. And yes, we have hard personal data on that last part. All that said, our favorite thing behind the case is the Shirini Napelini. Layers of flaky pastry are filled with a tart homemade cream and topped with a slightly sweet whipped cream. It’s crunchy, sour, and exceptionally well-balanced. Grab a box of nan-e nokhodchi, bite-size chickpea cookies with cardamom, and you’ve got yourself an excellent dessert haul. Cash only.