Coffee & Treats in Culver City

Family owned and operated, Ninong's Pastries and Cafe serves up an intriguing assortment of bakery items, barista beverages, and specialty main dishes distinctly infused with Filipino heritage. Wrap your mouth around a handmade, family-recipe-stuffed empanada ($1.45 each) with your choice of chicken, beef, pork asado, corned beef, longanisa (sweet Filipino sausage), or spinach filling, or order an entire platter to experience lots of time-honored tastes in a single sitting ($8.70 for a half-dozen). Savory morning mouthfuls perk pepless patrons with dishes including Filipino corned beef and eggs ($5.50) and the classic ham-, pepper-, and onion-laden Denver omelet ($6.25), while the cafe's collection of muffins ($1.50), brownies ($1), fruit tarts ($3), cakes ($2.50 a slice), and more prepares customers for sweet dreams regardless of the time of day. For a satisfying lunch, pair the tang of pickled vegetables atop a tocino baguette sandwich (chicken or pork, $5.95) with some slurps of a sweet fruit smoothie ($3.25, add bobas for $0.80), or rinse down all of your rations with a cup of traditional-Filipino barako coffee ($1.75) for the energy to swim across a map of the Pacific with one eye behind your back.

Cupcakes Couture and OneHope Wine are banding together to present themed nights featuring pleasing pairs of sweets and spirits to gratify gourmands and entice taste buds. Cupcakes Couture's squad of chefs, led by owner Jenine Cravatt, plucks fresh, high-end ingredients from local sources to prepare eye- and tongue-astounding cupcakes every morning. OneHope Wine corks high-end concoctions with a charitable edge, donating half of the profits from each varietal to a corresponding cause. Bite-sized baked morsels will each be paired with a complementary wine, teaming lighter fare with whiter wine, richer sweets with full-bodied flavors, and loudmouth cupcakes with wine brewed by cantankerous librarians. Luscious lemon cake conceals a treasure of sweet strawberry preserves beneath strawberry frosting in the strawberry-lemonade cupcake, teamed with the light touch of sauvignon blanc. Chocolate blackout cake absorbs light, time, and errant wristwatches beneath its dark-chocolate truffle frosting when tasted together with the robust bouquet of red zinfandel. Tasteful décor and exciting flavors make these tastings terrific for romantic outings, ladies' nights, and routine sweet-tooth maintenance. You can also spot Cupcakes Couture's creations on Food Network's Cupcake Wars and Lifetime's Seriously Funny Kids (both episodes air tonight).

Frozen Crush offers 16 flavors of their dairy-free treat, each one made daily from fruit puree. Flavors can be stacked, or combined with fat-free yogurt, to create a blend or swirl of icy and creamy goodness that is not to be confused with ice cream. After perusing the focused menu, dive spoon-first into a large cup ($4) packed with both lemon and cherry ice, or take home a quart ($8) of the horchata or root-beer flavors for drink-inspired sweetness. When dreams of dairy hijack your brain, add a cream-kissed layer to the cold cup and top the fat-free vanilla yogurt with cotton-candy ice ($4–$5), or opt to blend orange ice and yogurt into a beautiful Creamsicle-esque creation ($4–$5). Sugar-free options are also available for dentists who practice what they preach.

Inside the kitchen of Pines Of Florence, chefs steam mussels, boil housemade pastas, and bake pans of ziti to a bubbling golden brown. Sub sandwiches packed with meatballs, eggplant parmigiana or italian cold cuts accompany crusty pizzas during weekend lunches, and dinner entrees such as shrimp parmigiana and spaghetti a la carbonara come topped with parmesan cheese. For dessert, sweet bites of fluffy tiramisu, cannolis, and rich cheesecake fill up bellies and the refrigerated snack compartment of most designer handbags.

When Millions of Milkshakes introduces a new milkshake or smoothie, paparazzi and screaming fans usually attend the event. That’s because these drink exposés often dovetail with a celebrity appearance—stars such as Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, and Albert Einstein have hand-crafted desserts that now appear on the creamery's menu.

In addition to serving celebrity-endorsed desserts, Millions of Milkshakes prepares custom-made creations. It does so in three steps, scooping a base (dairy or non-dairy ice cream), tailoring the dessert to a size, and mixing in toppings. Its roster of nearly 60 toppings includes everything from candy and hot fudge to fresh fruit and protein powder.

Between the celebrity following, the DIY process, and the bright-colored shop with plasma screens and modern music, Millions of Milkshakes has attracted the attention of many national news outlets, including E! and NBC News.

Though they’ve garnered the praise of national publications such as Bon Appètit and Nylon Magazine, the chefs at Pazzo Gelato are all about the local community. Each morning, they frolic through the city’s farmer’s markets to find seasonal inspiration, using organic ingredients whenever possible and steering clear of high-fructose corn syrup. Patrons can mix-and-match decadent combinations such as Madagascar vanilla and sea salt caramel or pistachio and red velvet. Vegan sorbetti include flavors such as toasted coconut and dark chocolate orange. All cool creations can be scooped into the shop’s biodegradable cups and waffle cones, or gently lobbed into a cup of espresso and whipped cream for the shop’s signature pazzogato.

At the espresso bar, staffers pour aromatic cups of Intelligentsia coffee, loose-leaf tea, and drinking chocolate. The combination of cool and hot menu options makes the patio comfortable in summer, fall, and apocalyptic weather.