GroundFloor Café, Downtown

433 S. Spring Street · Los Angeles, CA · Neighborhood: Downtown

A new restaurant concept by celebrity chef, Emmanuel Delcour is GroundFloor Café. It opened, appropriately enough, on Bastille Day July 14th. It’s a French bistro/lounge set up in a beautiful huge 4000 square feet Modern Art Gallery. I was lucky to be able to attend a special red carpet event and taste a bit of what this little bistro has to offer.

Located in the heart of downtown, you will be able to enjoy traditional French gourmet sandwiches (yum!) and decadent salads. The baguettes are HUGE and really quite perfect. This chef doesn’t mess around. He practically gives you the whole loaf!

I liked that in addition to providing tonight’s guests with yummy  little samples from the menu, the café was also serving the full menu. I had a Parisian Sandwich (pictured above) which had smoked ham, Gruyere cheese, butter and French pickles. I am normally not a fan of pickles but these were actually quite delicious! Best part, it was all just 9 bucks!

I also sampled the Tuna Cranberry Sandwich which rocked my world. The dried cranberries, shallots, mayo, pickled ginger and cranberry sauce together worked so perfectly together.

Let’s not forget the GIANT baguette with Nutella for just $2.75! The prices are super reasonable for the value. I was afraid this place was going to be stuffy and very Foux da fa fa, but instead it was fresh and hip and super cute!

Besides their various sandwich selections, The GroundFloor Cafe offers traditional French pastries, cheeses, Moroccan-style fresh mint teas and the delicious, LavAzza Italian coffee (I LOVE this coffee!)

The very French and the very charming, Chef Emmanuel talked with patrons and happily took tons of pictures with his guests. “I like to take pictures” he said. Well, it’s no wonder he’s also a model, actor and award winning body builder!

I’m excited to see what the regular crowd will be like and how the space grows as the art changes. Next time you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to check this place out, grab some cheese, have an espresso and don’t forget to enjoy the art! (And by art I mean the good-looking chef behind the counter.)  😉