Emil's Bake House

🇨🇭 SWITZERLAND / QUICK FIX: This fun Agoura Hills bakery offers the sweet and savory treats of Switzerland, a mix of the many European cultures that make up the country.

🇨🇭 SWITZERLAND
📍 5005 Kanan Road,
Agoura Hills, Conejo Valley
🅿️ Ample parking in plaza
🥤 No Alcohol
🌱 Vegetarian Friendly

📸 All photos by Jared Cohee
for Eat the World Los Angeles

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Besides the summer Swiss Fair held annually around their August 1st independence day, the people and culture of Switzerland is hard to find in Los Angeles. Swiss expats love to meet for big football matches, so look out for them the next few weeks during the 2024 Euro Cup, but besides these big gatherings there are just a couple places on the fringes of Metro Los Angeles.

One of these is Emil’s Bake House in Agoura Hills, the Conejo Valley’s only city in Los Angeles County. The long-running bakery used to live in West Los Angeles until the pandemic shut things down in 2020. Now it is tucked into a busy shopping center with tables and umbrellas in front to enjoy hot slices of quiche or one of their many freshly made pastries.

While most people come in for those ready-to-eat stars, the shop also has some shelves packed with many Swiss and other European goods. As seen above, this is probably your best option for the many styles of Müesli in Switzerland and Germany.

Even more reason for a quick diversion from the 101 if you happen to be driving through the area are the trays of sweets. A line of fresh Berliners (below), some standard and some using in-season ingredients, make for a good start. Since stone fruit season has recently began, the apricot was selected and was almost too delicious.

Berliners are jam filled donuts that trace a long history back to Germany, but most places in that country refer to them as krapfen. In Switzerland they are wildly popular and ubiquitous, and use the proper Swiss nomenclature.

At the back of the counter area are a few shelves of swiss tarts, again using mostly fruits that are the freshest available. Stone fruit season again made the decision of the plum and was again wildly successful. Emil is obviously a talented pastry chef, and it is so fortunate this bakery has been able to re-open, albeit in a different home.

The amazing plum Swiss tart.

If you are in the mood for a savory breakfast or lunch, try a slice of one of their many varieties of quiche. The Lorraine is available of course with bacon and Swiss, or you could try the alpen (above) which features gorgonzola and asagio cheeses with mushrooms and dried tomatoes.

With all the options, especially for sweets, you are bound to be a little overwhelmed on the first visit. In terms of Swiss treats, Agoura Hills is definitely the epicenter of Southern California now.

Raspberry tart with lemon.

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