Jack Benchakul has made every drink since he and his cousin Ttaya Tuparangsi moved into the space on the ground floor of Chinatown’s Far East Plaza in 2015. A biochemist turned pastry chef turned coffee pro, Benchakul is also a barista’s barista, the kind of maestro to whom other coffee professionals come to study his moves. I’ve found no better place to drink a pour-over in Los Angeles, and that’s saying something given the city’s astonishing breadth of options. He favors a Nordic style of coffee roasting — lighter, more expressive of the bean’s terroir than its roasted flavors, notes of berries or citrus or stone fruit or spices, sometimes combined, as you can discern in elegantly made wine and carefully crafted loose-leaf tea. Come on Monday, Endorffeine’s calmest day, when Benchakul breaks out rarer varieties served as espresso drinks.
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