Jury's out; The hybrid trend is no longer exclusive to cars and exotic fruits. LAMILL Coffee Boutique - born of innovation and an ingredient-obsessed charge to create impeccable coffee - is not just in a class by itself, it could teach the whole curriculum .

Here, coffee is religion . LAMILL's hardbound beverage book: it bible. But we were there for dinner. And to our great fortune, its gastronomy is on par with its holy bean pursuits.

Options are limited; but do not be dissuaded by this. Each plate is treated as an advent in advancing your palate. I began with the organic lavender lemonade, a spritzer worth celebrating when the mercury barely dips below triple digits come 7pm. In the same vein, the chilled pea soup with Moroccan mint tea crème fraiche aside a feta crouton makes for a light and wildly refreshing starter.

My main course I can barely talk about. It was one of those dishes that will resonate and I will ruminate over repetitively, like that one meal on that one vacation and it's the whole reason you want to return to that country. The smoked salmon risotto, featuring smoked salmon, crispy salmon skin, sake, and brook trout roe, is ridiculous. It defies familiarity and welcomes you back all at once. The crunch of the salmon skin and the pop of the roe, it is a spectacular contrast of texture on your tongue. Every bite, better than the one before it. And the first bite will knock you to the floor.

Dessert. Don't even think about passing. Milk-chocolate coffee panna cotta with coconut ravioli and Bailey's ice cream - this is the food of fairytales. An ample selection accompanies it, but like the Budino at Mozza, I beg you not to leave without trying it. And with signature beverages that include coffee and a jelly doughnut, (strawberry essence layered with donut-infused milk, topped with espresso), liquid tiramisu, and Valrhona Mocha, you'll be kissing your venti whatever good-bye, yesterday.

This maverick endeavor is a marriage. One of casual café culture and cuisine so exquisite it usually requires a 30-day advanced reservation and uncomfortable shoes. But LAMILL Coffee Boutique has reinvented the wheel. In a corner café situated in the artistic hotbed that is Silver Lake, I wondered if perhaps an establishment so elite in epicurean endeavor might be too chic for the shabby. Au contraire. With its groundbreaking ethos and Providence ingénue Michael Cimarusti at the helm, in the heart of forward thinking and earthen reverence, LAMILL lives right where it belongs.

Between these cranberry and Tiffany blue walls live initiative at it's most delicious. Bring your laptop, bring your toddler, bring your exceptionally discriminating palate. All are welcome, all at once. Who wouldn't drink to that?

THE DETAILS: LAMILL Coffee Boutique
1636 Silver Lake Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323.663.4441
www.lamillcoffee.com

Story by Jolie Loeb.

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