Stumptown Coffee | Tasting Table Los Angeles

Coffee culture in L.A. just took a big leap forward: We finally have our own Stumptown.

The iconic Portland roastery has found a new home in the Arts District–a sparse, seatless café with tall windows looking out onto an industrial stretch of San Mateo Street (not half a mile from L.A.'s other premier roaster, Handsome Coffee).

The 7,000-square-foot shop houses a hulking 60-kilo Probat roaster and full training lab. City permits are currently keeping the roaster from firing, but in the meantime, you can experience their direct trade beans in pour-overs of Guatemala Bella Vista ($4.50 per cup), Hair Bender espresso shots ($3) pulled from a customized La Marzocco Strada machine and the requisite single-origin cold-brew coffee on tap ($4).

Pouring lattes (Photo: Stumptown Coffee)

There's also a long wooden display case hiding an assortment of baked goods from newcomer Sugarbloom Bakery, run by former Bouchon pastry chef Sharon Wang. Unique items, like kimchi-spam musubi croissants ($4) and maple-bacon scones ($3.75) caught our eye, but our hearts were ensnared by Wang's miso-butterscotch chocolate chip cookies ($2.50).

Now, if only the Arts District had more parking spots...