Before Los Angeles was bombarded by the massive influx of Starbucks coffee there was the Groundwork Coffee Company. Founded in 1990, Groundwork was the first certified organic coffee roaster in Southern California. Their coffee isn’t just certified organic, it’s also fairly traded and kosher. While the organic concept has become a consumer fad – especially in Los Angeles – Groundwork has remained a beacon for locally roasted organic coffee since Dylan and Brenda first hooked up on 90210.

They had me at “locally roasted,” so on a Friday afternoon I dragged my husband to the location in Venice to investigate what the veteran roasters of Los Angeles have to offer. If you roast your own coffee and care enough to make all your coffee certified organic, fair trade and kosher, the likelihood that you’ll require your baristas to adhere to high standards is pretty good. I ordered a latte with soy and hoped for the best.

It came out looking glorious. The latte art was not extensive, but it looked lovely nonetheless with its perfectly steamed creamy layer of foam. I took a sip. The flavors were perfectly balanced.

Normally, I would put half a packet of Splenda in my latte for a little sweetness, but it wasn’t necessary this time. I believe this may be due to sweetened soy milk, which I’m typically not a big fan of.

I had my husband, who is not big on coffee nor espresso based drinks, take a sip. He was impressed, and he raised his eyebrows with utter approval.

I asked the woman at the counter if I could sample a couple of coffees. I tried Black Gold, which is their signature espresso and Bitches Brew. They were both excellent, but I was partial to Bitches Brew, as I prefer a dark roasted, full-body coffee.

I enjoyed the ambiance at Groundwork. I loved the idea that I was surrounded by coffee bins and bags full of freshly roasted beans. On the wall above, various coffee brewing vessels were prominently displayed, many of which were old and rather archaic. The diminutive coffee shop’s overall motif resembled a general store out of a wild west flick – only with coffee.

I eyed the jars in the center of the shop filled with homemade pastries that were made in the shop. The jar filled to the brim with animal shaped cookies had me awfully excited. I was also smitten by the idea of alternating between dipping an almond anise biscotti and a raspberry pistachio biscotti into my latte, but I decided to be on good behavior

I noticed that most of the jars were labeled with a list of ingredients. They were simple ingredients like eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and flour. It put things into perspective for me. These pastries were pure and made with love, just like the coffee.