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Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) include the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park/Mid-Wilshire, and the William S. Hart Museum in Newhall. It protects and shares more than 35 million specimens and artifacts, the largest natural and cultural history collection in the western United States. But it also explores the nature and culture that surrounds us today, both in L.A. and the world.

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A wedding anniversary cake is shaped like an open storybook. In the center, a white castle with blue roofing juts out. In front of the castle, a fondant sculpture of two men dressed like kings or princes hug each other.
Cake and Art owner Tom Rosa recalls the rush for cupcakes the day gay marriage was legalized in California and of the hundreds of cakes baked for same-sex "commitment ceremonies" decades before.
An overhead shot of lachha paratha dough is heated on a skillet over a stove. To the right of the stove are a stack of completed lachha parathas.
Asim Bharwani, co-founder of Paratta, alongside his wife Zara, and two brothers-in-law, Saroosh and Khizar, developed their Desi food truck to share their culture, cuisine and creativity with the L.A. community.
An elderly woman and a man make Egyptian bread together.
Amir Edward is bringing the flavors and rustic taste of Egyptian aish baladi (Egyptian flatbread) to L.A. — with help from his grandmother.
A tray of biscootti
At Liberation Coffee House in Hollywood, the sweet smell of almond flour fills the air and woos customers from the community into the welcoming space. While serving biscotti, coffee, plus other pastries, the café also opens doors for those in the community looking for a home, jobs or other opportunities.
Kristen Trattner, left, and Monica May, right stand at a dark wooden counter topped with two plates of biscuits and coffee cups.
Nickel Diner is well-known in their community for their Sunday morning biscuits with a side of sweet strawberry jam. Co-owners Monica May and Kristen Trattner discuss how their biscuits transcend cultures and capture the taste of grandmotherly love.
Two bánh mì sandwiches on a white paper doily. The sandwiches' bread are long, French rolls with a golden, crunchy exterior. Inside, the sandwich is stuffed with various vegetables like cilantro, carrots, radish and jalapeños among other things.
Ali Huynh, a second-generation baker at Kien Giang Bakery in Echo Park, discusses the blended cultural history of bánh mì rolls, his family's journey to Los Angeles and how the bánh mì roll crosses cultural boundaries.
Mizuki Shin, a middle-aged woman of Asian descent, is wearing a vertical-striped black and white apron and a red bandana on her head. She's learning against a glass pastry case displaying rows of pastries and other baked goods.
Roji Bakery has served the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood for the past 20 years, serving up warm, fluffy Japanese shokupan (milk bread) and other baked goods. Owner Mizuki Shin talks about the yudane technique that makes milk loaf unique and reminisces on her memories eating shokupan as a child in Japan.
Jennie Fou Lee is wearing a pink tie-dye hoodie and a white apron as she holds out a tray of doughnuts from a glass case. There are two kinds of doughnuts on the tray — a line of Oreo/cookies and cream doughnuts and a doughnut topped with Fruity Pebbles.
In this video, Jennie Fou Lee of DK's Donuts talks about how their family-run store has become a community staple and how their doughnuts hold memories for the community they serve.
Two people hand off a thin, metal round tray full of multicolored conchas — bright pink, green ,brown and white.
La Monarca manager Magaly Avila talks about how she developed her skills as a baker, her pride in helping to create concha-centered memories in L.A. and the important work that La Monarca does to support conservation efforts of monarch butterflies.
David Yeretsian, an older man wearing a purple polo and a paper diner hat, uses a pizza peel to transfer lahmajunes onto a stainless steel table where rows and clusters of lahmajunes sit. The lahmajunes are thin, round pieces of dough topped with minced meat and minced vegetables, resembling a pizza without cheese on top.
David Yeretsian of Sasoun Bakery shares the story of how he came to open up his bakery, the connection he feels to his community and how lahmajune is Armenian comfort food.
 Zhengyalov Hatz is an Armenian flatbread dish made with 12 or more different kinds of leafy greens.
Zhengyalov Hatz is an incredible Armenian flatbread made with community effort, one that continues today at a restaurant in Glendale of the same name.
Karen Hirsch is an elder women with white wavy hair cut to her shoulders and bangs across her face. She's wearing a bright pink shirt with a colorful plaid apron over it. In her hands is a large basket full of round sourdough bread loaves. She's standing in front of a house with the door slightly ajar.
Karen Hirsch of Apron Strings Community Bake Shop in Pasadena shares the power of bread-making memories and how she aims to be a "community grandma" — offering a first lump of dough to roll, shape and bake.
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