Somehow this family-owned and operated, fair trade licensed coffee shop’s been roasting and brewing for 10 years without my knowledge.
Look across the street from Sony Pictures in Culver City, and you’ll spot this lil gem. Every morning, The Conservatory for Coffee, Tea & Cocoa roasts its own coffee beans — which you can get by the cup, or buy by the pound to brew at home.
I asked if any fair trade coffees were brewing, was told the Italian Roast was fair trade, and had a yummy cup with a brioche. The Conservatory gets its pastries from La Dijonnaise up the street — a French restaurant / bakery that imports its butter from France.
No wifi, as far as I could tell — but they had cute jewelry and one-of-a-kind cards for sale — made by local artisans, I believe. Cute homey feel. The friendly women working the counter seemed to know everyone who walked in.
I get the sense the place gets super busy when the Sony people are working, but mid-day on the Friday before New Year’s was fairly leisurely. I lazed around skimming books — trying to work on that dissertation…
The Conservatory for Coffee, Tea & Cocoa. 10117 Washington Blvd. Culver City. 310.558.0436. M-Sa 7 am-6 pm, closed Su.
fair trade, coffee, losangeles
December 29th, 2005 at 5:14 pm
…but mid-day on the Friday before New Year’s was fairly leisurely
it is friday already? ;-)
December 29th, 2005 at 5:24 pm
OMG you’ve never been to this place? They rock. They’ve got a great selection of teas too, properly stored, and their tea guy is very knowledgeable.
Drawback is that they pretty much run on Sony hours, no nights, weekends are limited, etc. Synergy, over on Overland is good for that, though.
December 29th, 2005 at 5:28 pm
Wow — Am I a day ahead of myself — again?
I’ll have to try out Synergy. They serve Groundwork Coffee — yes?
December 29th, 2005 at 10:25 pm
Sounds like an ideal business, roasting and selling Fair Trade coffees and teas. That would be my next dream business…:-) TGIF…it’s Friday in France now, 9hrs difference from L.A. :-)
December 30th, 2005 at 8:59 am
Sounds like a cool place to hang out. I will check it out. You mentioned their Italian Roast is Fair Trade. What about their other coffees? Can they tell you what the farmer got for those? And is the certification on their whole bean bags if I want to buy a pound? Thanks and have a great new year!
December 30th, 2005 at 10:23 am
i LOVE this coffee shop - it’s my local… and they’re all so sweet!
December 30th, 2005 at 11:55 pm
Hey CoffeeCurious — I’m not sure about the other coffees, but I got the sense that a significant percentage of their coffee’s fair trade certified. I’ll check the next time I’m there though — I was a lil afraid they’d think I was, um, annoying, cuz I really peppered them with a lotta Qs when I was there :) They were super super nice though.
I saw bags with the certification sticker, so I’m guessing they’d have whole bean bags with the certification bags, but I’ll double check on that too :)
January 9th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
This place is the real deal. They have certification on the green bean bags. Ask AJ or Ingrid. They know their business. Also, other local coffee houses are a far cry from the real thing. The Conservatory is the only place for me.