"A chic new daytime restaurant called Mangette opened in Long Beach’s Zaferia district late last year from Los Angeles restaurant veterans Alicia Kemper and Marie Delbarry. The indoor-outdoor cafe serves comforting and easygoing French food for breakfast and lunch, with eventual plans to collaborate with local chefs for dinner pop-ups. The historic, brick-lined 1940s building was retrofitted to serve food before Mangette and Buvons moved in. Sporting high ceilings, long windows, and a lovely back garden area, the counter service restaurant serves butternut squash and carrot soup topped with chive creme fraiche; soft scrambled eggs with salad and country toast; and a farro grain bowl with minced mushrooms, onion soubise, roasted daikon, and poached egg. More substantial lunch fare includes a well-crafted jambon beurre sandwich on a baguette, as well as a terrific fried fish sandwich on a brioche bun with tartar-like sauce gribiche. Noe Duran, a former cook from Michelin-starred Heritage, helms the food menu. To drink, a full coffee menu based on Counter Culture beans stands up to the top espresso spots in Long Beach while dessert includes a plush olive oil cake topped with a dollop of chantilly cream. Mangette is currently open Thursday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m." - Matthew Kang