Layla Bagels

Layla Bagels is the Santa Monica sourdough bagel shop where the matcha comes out of the same farmers market haul as the sandwiches. Sergio Espana, who cooked at Tartine and Gjusta, opened the first Layla on Ocean Park Boulevard in January 2023 with chef Sammi Tarantino, hand-rolling bagels that sit somewhere between Montreal and New York. The Minty Melon Matcha is the drink we keep thinking about. It runs on Munak Farms watermelon and Weiser Farms bonny melon juice with farmers market mint and basil over ceremonial grade matcha, and both of those farms are on Layla's own list of partners alongside Bill's Bees, Valdivia Farms and Tamai Family Farms. The Strawberry Matcha Latte uses a house strawberry syrup, and the Cream Top Matcha is an iced latte finished with house cream. Sourcing is the whole operation here. Layla shops the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Wednesday and Saturday and changes the menu weekly around what is good, which is how melon and sweet corn end up as syrup options next to vanilla and honey. Espana puts levain into the bagel dough to break down some of the gluten, and the gluten free bagels come from Original Sunshine. Three shops are open now, Ocean Park first, then Beverly Hills, then Brentwood.