République
Chaplin put this building up in 1929 and it has been a bakery ever since. Margarita Manzke won the 2023 James Beard for pastry off the front counter.
Why go
The address has a run of names on it. La Brea Bakery worked here, then Campanile, and Walter and Margarita Manzke took the room on.1 A café, bakery and bar fill the front, the dining room sits behind, and the two keep different hours off one kitchen.
In the morning the pastries come out and the queue forms. Michelin's inspectors describe trays of warm potato and leek beignets and toast points stacked with eggs and uni landing on almost every table, with baguettes and French butter following.2
Dinner is a different room. Dungeness crab risotto, braised wagyu beef cheek and duck with baby beets, on a short menu built out of Southern European cooking.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the potato and leek beignets, warm.2
- Order: the eggs and uni on toast points, then let the baguette and butter arrive.2
- Avoid: planning a pastry run after lunch. The café shuts at 2pm.1
What locals & experts say
- MICHELIN Guide California:
The tightly curated menu explores the cuisine of Southern Europe through exceptional ingredients, many of them local. Trays loaded with warm potato and leek beignets or toast points stacked with eggs and uni land on almost every table.
2 - Awards: Margarita Manzke won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker in 2023, for her work here. The award is hers, not the restaurant's.1
Good to know
- Timing: café daily 8am to 2pm. Dining room Tuesday to Friday 5:30pm to 10pm, Saturday 5pm to 10pm.1
- Booking: taken online for the dining room. Large parties of eight to sixteen eat family style at $135 a head.1
- Getting there: South La Brea Avenue, Miracle Mile. The guide files the room under Hollywood; the restaurant does not.
Verdict
should-visit — Charlie Chaplin built this room in 1929 and it has been a bakery of consequence ever since, first as La Brea Bakery, then Campanile, now the Manzkes. Margarita Manzke took the 2023 James Beard for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker off the front counter here, and that counter opens at eight in the morning. The guide's inspectors describe beignets and uni toast landing on almost every table, which is a specific enough picture to plan around. It stops short of the top rung because no bylined critic has written about the current kitchen.