Heirloom fruits sourced from family-owned farms located no more than 350 miles from Los Angeles are transformed into beautiful jams, chutneys, fruit butters, and marmalades at Jessica Koslow’s Sqirl. Here, preserves are made the old fashion way, cooked slow and low in copper pots using as little sugar as possible and natural pectin. This “less is more” approach means that every jar practically bursts with nature’s wholesome goodness.
The magic of spring and summer is captured in flavors like wild blueberry with tarragon and Santa Rosa plums with flowering thyme, while winter’s blood oranges and kumquats are delicately tamed in marmalade form, sometimes with the addition of vanilla bean.
Ms. Koslow recently teamed up with Ria Wilson, formerly of Canelé, and Kyle Glanville and Charles Babinski of G&B Coffee to open her production space to the public for breakfast and lunch. The Astronomer and I swung by on Saturday afternoon to catch up with my favorite jam maker and to sample a few of her new menu offerings.
The well-edited menu celebrates toast in sweet and savory forms and features daily specials that change with the chef’s bounty and whims. Runny eggs and preserved goodies of all stripes punctuate each plate.
