L.A.'s Storied Helms Bakery Returns

Yahoo

29-01-2025

Most people would recognize Neil Armstrong's famous utterance upon walking on the moon: 'One small step for man …'What's not as well-known about that time in history is that the 1969 space mission was rocketed into orbit stocked with bread for those astronauts made right here in L.A. at the sprawling art deco Helms Bakery (helmsbakery.la) building in Culver City.By then, the bakery had been dubbed 'the home of the Olympic bread' after it became the official supplier to the 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles just a year after it opened its doors. Soon, Helms Bakery was famous across the southland for its 'Helmsmen' — drivers who roamed the city in bright yellow trucks shaped like bread boxes filled with freshly baked loaves, donuts and cookies. The Helmsmen were seen as heroes to the hungry masses and signaled their arrival with a distinctive toot that brought crowds to the streets all over Southern California.Sadly, the same year that Helms bread became the first L.A.-made crusty carbohydrate to make a lunar landing, the baking factory shut its doors. Its spectacular building would later become a shopping and restaurant emporium on Venice Boulevard which operated under the brightly lit braggadocio of its predecessor's signage: 'Olympic Bread.'
Savor L.A., One Bite at a Time! Stay updated on the city's top dining spots, new openings, and food events. Subscribe to LAMag's Food Newsletter below or click here.
But now, the trailblazing French-trained South Korean-American chef Sang Yoon — the man behind Father's Office in the Helms Bakery complex — has brought back not only the nostalgia of the days of the little yellow bread trucks, but also the savory and sweet goods that made the company a household name. Only, he's done it with his own unique twists, and help from executive chef Nanor Harboyan (Destroyer) and head baker Jacob Fraijo (Joël Robuchon, Thomas Keller Group).After more than a decade of renovation and planning, Yoon has made his version of history with Helms Bakery a reality with a to-die-for menu that also includes incredible hot items like crispy rotisserie porchetta, a mouthwatering display highlighted on the eatery's Instagram shortly after the 14,000-square-foot space opened its doors on Nov. 1.Yoon's Helms Bakery reboot is a grander exploration geared toward foodies — a sweet and savory rotation of deli sandwiches and morning bites, along with upscale dry goods and to-go lunch items for shoppers at the complex, which houses high-end furniture stores alongside Yoon's Father's Office, Pasta Sisters and the Austrian restaurant Lustig. Culver City's Arts District area has long been a Westside destination for Angelenos looking for old-school nostalgia, and Yoon's Helms Bakery offers a modern interpretation of comfort food geared toward the gourmand.Located at 3220 Helms Ave., the all-day marketplace is also easily accessible, just a block from the Metro.