When Krispy Kreme first came to Southern California, people went nuts for the stuff. Drove in from hours away to the only location on the West coast, as if Jesus Christ almighty had come back to sell us donuts and the only way to see Him was to wait in line at the drive through window of the Brea Krispy Kreme. The madness didn’t subside for months after the grand opening.

Americans are a donut eating people. We Japanese don’t donut. Wouldn’t give a rat’s patootey if Krispy Kreme opened in Tokyo. We are a “choux cream” eating people. Today, a Beard Papa opened in Hollywood’s massive Kodak Theater shopping-tainment megaplex. It’s Japan’s largest chain of cream puff bakery cafes, and people lose their minds and queue up when a new one opens in Japan. This is their first California location, with others soon to follow in the South Bay area and possibly Santa Monica.

The staff started baking at 2am for today’s 10am grand opening. According to someone on Chowhound who was there, a line of anxious (mostly Japanese) people waited an hour for the first taste. This intrepid reporter showed up at 7:30pm, well after the lines subsided.

Baked choux pastry prior to filling

Cream puff selection

Directly across from the El Capitan theater on Hollywood Blvd.

These treats are heavy for their moderate size because they’re overfilled with a soft, almost runny vanilla custard. The choux pastry is baked to a firm, crisp texture with very little sweetness. It’s a crispy vehicle for carrying the pudding like filling. Although they claim to use lavish amounts of vanilla beans, the vanilla flavor was mellow, and balanced nicely with egg yolk and a very restrained amount of sugar. It’s Japanese subtlety at its best.

If Americans think of cream puffs at all, it’s in the pejorative, sissified sense of the word. That’s because most American bakeries make lousy cream puffs filled with a stiff overstarched pastry cream, or worse, a butter cream. These don’t weep moisture into the choux puff, but they don’t taste good, either. These sorry cream puffs sit around for hours until someone buys them, but they were never good to start with.

Beard Papa, on the other hand, just makes cream puffs so they’re always fresh. They can use wetter, gooey, luscious cream fillings. For today’s opening, the basic vanilla filling is all they offered. I can’t wait to try the other fillings like sesame and green tea!

The sum of Beard Papa’s cream puff is greater than its mild components. It’s a perfect contrast of crisp shell and creamy filling, with just enough powdered sugar to remind you these are decadent treats. Left unsupervised with a pot of coffee, I could easily scarf a box of six by myself, and I guarantee my ass would grow a size larger by next week. Ah - there’s the American in me!

Beard Papa, for your next location, please give us a drive though window. If there’s anything you can learn from Krisy Kreme, it’s that we Americans love our drive-thrus!

Beard Papa
6801 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA

The Salt household was invited to Mehregan last weekend as guests of Network of Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County. I interviewed Dr. Hosseini, the President of NIPOC, for a Persian foodstuffs story filed with the OC Weekly. His organization puts on a large cultural festival that draws over 20,000 Iranian-Americans from across the country to the Orange County Fairgrounds. Sadly, the OC Weekly story didn’t run before this weekend, so we weren’t able to plug the festival as I’d hoped.

Grilled tomatoes

Beef koobideh

Chicken koobideh

About 20 food vendors lined sides selling mostly Persian foods, although roasted corn on the cob and Pizza Hut were there. Local restaurants and catering outfits grilled kebabs of ground meats called koobideh, or pieces of marinated chicken breast called barg. For the same reason that a Fourth of July cookout wouldn’t be complete without burgers and dogs, kebabs are the quintessential cookout food found from Turkey to Mongolia. Even with other food options, a cookout’s not the same without smoky, sensual, satisfying sticks of charry meat.

Ash-e reshteh, garnished with mint oil

I was hoping for more variety among the vendors’ menus, but everyone had similar offerings: a plate of kebabs, plain rice, a grilled tomato, and the noodle soup called ash-e reshteh. A few different kinds of polos would have been nice: the rice pilafs flavored with nuts, fruit, and herbs. Or my favorite stewed meat dish called fessenjan flavored with ground walnuts and pomegranate. But as someone who’s cooked professionallly, I understand that long cooked stews don’t work well for impatient festival crowds that want to eat right now. Kebabs cook up in minutes and keep hungry crowds happy.

One vendor sold Persian donuts, some sweet, some savory. Picture a round oily donut filled with a pleasing, sweet, eggy custard. Another was shaped long, like a fat cruller, but stuffed with potato chunks flavored with dill and mint. Two other varities were made, but we were pretty full at that point. It kills me that I didn’t take photos or notes on what they’re called. Please leave a comment if you know.

What better way to end the meal than at Akbar Mashti’s booth, aka Mashti Malone’s Ice Cream One of Los Angeles’ best ice cream makers brought select flavors including faludeh and my favorite, orange blossom with pistachio nuts. We’re looking forward to next year’s event!