Who makes the best bread in Culver City? I'm going to make it my business to find out. But I have a working assumption as a starting point: Lonzo's Bakery at 10804 Washington Boulevard, across the street from Best Buy.

You don't have to take my word for it. They seem to agree on Yelp, where Kristin M. writes, "Aaaaaaamazing! Best sourdough bread I've ever tasted. Excellent bread, friendly service and great prices, doesn't get any better than this." Drop in some time on the way home from work and buy a loaf of white, sourdough, wheat, olive, pumpernickel, or rosemary bread for $3.50. Or try a roll or a ciabatta. See for yourself.

The owner and baker (and usually guy behind the cash register) is Jose Ramirez, who named the bakery after his son. Where did Jose learn to make such amazingly flavorful bread? Would you believe Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts School in Paris?

Jose grew up in a tiny town in Jalisco. His town had a bakery, but he didn't work there. He made bricks instead, an occupation that Jose says was surprisingly good preparation for making bread. "It's practically the same thing," he says, "mix the right ingredients just so and bake." When Jose earned enough money to move with his wife to Los Angeles, he found an inexpensive duplex in Culver City and went to work in a bakery. Soon he had enough money for a month-long bread class at the Cordon Bleu. He's been back for a couple more classes in the meantime, but he says the most important thing has been the friends he made. "I have two friends in Paris now who are bakers. When I go back, they let me work in their shops, so I can learn what they do."

When I ask Jose the secret to making great bread, his answer is simplicity itself. "When you mix the ingredients, you have to give it your attention. When you form the loaves, you have to feel it." Here's Jose more or less showing how it's done.

One of the great things about Lonzo's is that Jose is always trying new things. His display case is not large, and he might have sold out of the bread you intended to buy, but whatever you end up with is pretty great. And since he's always experimenting with different items, you might find yourself adding bread pudding to your bread order one week and a fresh fruit tart the next. He makes pizza on Wednesday as well as pretzels, muffins, scones, cupcakes, tarts, brownies, and cookies. Most of these I can vouch for personally.

The block where Lonzo's Bakery is located doesn't get much foot traffic, but that's OK: Jose sells his bread wholesale to restaurants (including a couple in downtown Culver City), summer camps, and even Culver City High School. In fact, Culver City High School used to buy from him every day (and good for them for buying locally!), but because of budget cuts, they have reduced their purchase to twice a week.  

Still, Jose continues to donate his bread to the La Ballona Elementary School end-of-school parties. Last year they made this poster, to thank him.

Lonzo's delivers seven days a week to his wholesale clients, and the shop is open (more or less) from 7 to 7 on weekdays, 8 to 5 on Saturday, and 8 to 1 on Sunday.

If you have another candidate for best bread in Culver City, I would love to hear about it. That's what the comment box is for!