After 30 years as a local favorite among students, Westwood
residents and Hollywood stars, the Butterfly Bakery has closed its
doors for good.
Located on Westwood Boulevard, a block and a half south of
Wilshire Boulevard, “The Butterfly” was famous for its
homemade pastries and an atmosphere not often encountered in the
corporate landscape of Westwood restaurants.
Liz Brooks, the bakery’s 72-year-old proprietress, said
she began experiencing financial difficulties a year and a half
ago. After enduring declining business and rising rent rates for
over a year, Brooks realized her store could no longer survive in
Westwood. The bakery officially shut down two weeks ago.
Brooks’ landlord, Henry Danpour, believes that he has done
all that could be expected of him to save the bakery.
“We let the rent ride and we introduced at least three
potential business partners to (Brooks). We feel for her, but there
is only so much we can do,” he said.
Danpour added that his building, which was the bakery’s
former home, is currently filled to capacity, and all his tenants
are small business people. However, only one tenant is in the food
industry.
As a longstanding and popular restaurant, the bakery’s
failure to remain economically viable does not bode well for other
independent restaurants, Brooks said.
“If the Butterfly can’t make it here, what hope is
there for any one else?” Brooks said.
Some students have noticed other small business closures and are
beginning to get a sense of corporate uniformity in Westwood.
“I always wanted to go to the American Burger but now
it’s another Coffee Bean. Pretty soon (Westwood) is going to
have no character at all,” said Saman Bravo-Karimi, a
third-year economics and history student.
For Brooks, closing her bakery is as much an emotional loss as a
financial one.
As owner, manager and baker at the bakery, Brooks began her
workdays at 4:30 a.m. and stayed until closing time at 7:30
p.m.
Since her husband’s death 12 years ago, the bakery has
been her sole means of support and one of her largest sources of
happiness.
“We never had children, so the bakery was like my child. I
have so many memories there,” Brooks said.
Brooks knew many of her customers by name, and many of them
stayed loyal to her until the end. George Seber, a Westwood
dentist, ate breakfast at the bakery every morning for 15
years.
“It’s a sad event. There is no place like it around
now,” he said.
The interior of the Butterfly Bakery was a testament to
Brooks’ unique sense of balance between Hollywood-style flash
and home-style quaintness. The bakery’s walls were decorated
with signed photographs of celebrity patrons and pictures of the
neighborhood’s pet dogs.
Cardboard boxes of these and other collectors items from the
bakery are stacked against a wall in her apartment’s living
room. Brooks has received offers for the memorabilia, but
hasn’t been in the mood to discuss parting with the momentos,
which she feels are a part of her past.
Brooks said Hollywood stars such as Madonna, Brooke Shields,
Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier have visited the bakery. The
high-profile clientele did not diminish Brooks’ dedication to
providing warm and friendly service for every customer.
“I would still give kids free cookies and chat with the
customers,” Brooks said.
In recent years, Brooks noticed a decline in business to her
bakery that she attributes to steadily increasing competition from
a constant influx of chain restaurants and corporate grocery
stores.
Brooks believes the lack of convenient parking near her bakery
also harmed her business. While new stores such as Ralphs and Whole
Foods have their own parking lots, bakery customers had to seek out
metered parking on traffic-congested Westwood Boulevard.
Though Brooks will be 73 at the end of this month, she still has
plenty of ambition. She would like to open a new store, but is also
considering compiling a cookbook of celebrities’ favorite
recipes, teaching a cooking class for children and selling her
products to grocery stores.
In the meantime, if past customers want to find their favorite
Butterfly pastries, Brooks encourages them to contact her
privately.
Brooks is currently baking for a small group of loyal friends
and supporters.
“Even without the bakery, I can still make people happy
with my food,” she said.