Atticus: A dessert shop sweet with charm

 

If you’re craving a sweet fix and are willing to make the trip to West L.A., while you’re at it, perhaps Atticus Creamery & Pies should be a new addition to your day trip bucket list. The little dessert spot, located on Westwood and Pico – across the street from the Westside Pavillion – specializes in serving up handcrafted small pies and ice cream, which are made fresh in small batches daily.

With pie flavors like Lemon Lavender or Earl Grey, Atticus isn’t the place to go for your classic American pies. Though you’re bound to find ingredients like apple, cherry and pumpkin, it’s best to go on a day that you’re feeling a little daring.

How about Sweet Corn ice cream? Nutella Ferrero Rocher? The dessert shop prides itself on providing flavors that tease and challenge your taste buds: ones that are unlikely and refreshing, but also pleasantly comfortable. According to their website, their mission is for you to try something new but have that thing be something you can enjoy over and over again, in celebration, during a breakup–or just a hot day.

If you’re still wondering about the Sweet Corn ice cream, it’s a great alternative to vanilla that’s slightly less rich but still very sweet. Corn is sweet by itself, even when it’s complementing a sweet treat. A favorite flavor in Mexico, where kernels are actually stirred in whole, corn produces a sweet milky extract that is added to an ice cream’s custard base. Though it isn’t a widely popular flavor in most ice cream shops in this country, it makes appearances in artisanal creameries that are scattered across our favorite towns and cities.

Though Atticus manages to serve up a daily dose of charming pies and inventive ice creams, in order to survive as a sweet shop these days, it’s important as a business to possess charm that goes beyond the desserts. With the coziness of a handwritten menu, neutral-toned walls, and subtle rustic touches, its approach to food transfers over to its décor as well. The shop has a clean, brightly lit, modern look that’s characteristic of many recent Los Angeles cafes, yet still manages to be inviting and warm. Dark wooden shelves adorned with the winsome flower or old-time alarm clock keep the vibes low-key and comfortable, striking a balance between efficiently modern and an unwinding cool – a balance that is difficult to come by.

Atticus is open from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and 12 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.