When I lived in Los Angeles, Michel Richard was a regular stop on weekends, especially during the period of time in which my brother lived right down the street.

So, when deciding on a place for breakfast in L.A., Michel Richard seemed like a natural choice.

By the time the three of us finished getting ready in the one bathroom in our hotel room, and finally packed up and got in the car, it was already after 11 a.m., and we were all hungry, in need of coffee, and slightly cranky.

I knew for a fact the trek across Santa Monica Boulevard and down Robertson would be worth it, but as we drudged light after light through the traffic, Tony wasn’t as convinced.

He kept saying “we are going here for pastries?”

“Yes. Very good pastries,” I said. “Just keep driving. “

Once he sunk his fork into this glorious apricot pastry, in which each buttery flake was a delicate, feather-light masterpiece unto itself, a smile of pure joy and total contentment washed over his face.

It was his first bite of food for the day, and all was right with the world. What more could you want?

How about a perfect Almond Brioche? A respectable cappucino? Chilled, fresh-squeezed orange juice?

Oh yeah, baby!!

My daughter had this Napoleon, along with a plain Croissant. Having worked as an assistant pastry chef back in my teens, I became very spoiled when it comes to Napoleons (one of my favorites, if they are flawlessly done). First and foremost, they are only good if they are eaten within the first couple of hours, and preferably sooner than that. Otherwise, the creme permeates the pastry, causing it to wilt and become soggy. This pastry (like all the rest we had that morning, I am sure) was most likely made between 4-6 a.m., and thus had been sitting around for many hours by the time it was brought to our table at 11:30 a.m., and as a result it was sub par.

When that is the case, all is not lost, in my opinion. Because I love the glaze topping (the way it adheres to the pastry reminds me of really good baklava), I like to peel off the top layer, with the glaze on top and vanilla creme on the bottom and take bites of that. Yummy! My daughter followed suit, eating the remainder of the top layer and leaving the rest behind.

Her croissant was lovely, however. In case you were wondering. So she was happy, all in all.

When I saw that the Raspberry Tart was glazed, I was disappointed. It is usually my favorite pastry at Michel Richard. That is, when the raspberries are stunning and simply require a dusting of powdered sugar. It was a perfectly fine Raspberry Tart, but nothing special. Unfortunately, raspberry season is not for a few more weeks.

Since we were there before the lunch rush, we had most of the dining room to ourselves, with only a two other couples sharing the space.

A lovely breakfast for a sunny Los Angeles morning, as always. I tried to get a shot of the exterior without a bunch of cars in front of it, but it is Robertson Blvd. after all, so this was the best I could do.

Visited on Friday, August 1, 2008 at 11:30 p.m.