A spotlight from Mid-Wilshire · La Brea
République
A French brasserie hidden inside Charlie Chaplin's 1928 dream, on La Brea
I don't want this to be considered a fine dining restaurant.
— Walter Manzke, Chef & Co-Owner
It started with a building
Before it was République, the room on La Brea had been Campanile — Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton's landmark, dark since 2012. And before it was Campanile, it was offices Charlie Chaplin commissioned in 1928 as a studio annex, walls of exposed brick and hand-laid tile beneath decades of renovations that nobody had ever thought to strip back.
Walter Manzke — veteran of Patina and Bastide — and his pastry-chef wife Margarita took the space in 2013 and did exactly that. They took it back to the bones.
They took it back to the bones.
The discipline of a tasting menu, the warmth of a brasserie
When Walter pushes back on the fine-dining label, he isn't being modest. République runs on the discipline of a tasting-menu kitchen — Margarita's pastry team is baking croissants before dawn, the salumi is house-cured, the sauces are held to French bistro exactness — but the room is loud, sunny, full of walk-ins in the morning and full of everyone by nightfall.
Dinner leans into a French repertoire crossed with Filipino accents and California produce. Somehow the best-selling thing on the menu, by Walter's own admission, is a kimchi fried rice.
Bringing La Brea back to life
When Campanile went dark, the stretch of Mid-Wilshire around La Brea went quiet with it. République brought the whole daypart back — morning croissant lines out the door, lunch, late-night dinner service in a room where a decade earlier there had been nothing.
A neighborhood anchor, not a destination tucked inside a hotel. That's the distinction Walter and Margarita have been drawing for thirteen years.
Order this
The dishes that made République
Kimchi fried rice
Walter's own admission — the best-selling thing on the menu. French kitchen, Manila kitchen, one plate.
Dry-aged beef burger
Short-rib and dry-aged rib-eye patty with American cheese, caramelized onions, special sauce, house pain de mie.
Margarita's morning pastry case
The croissants and viennoiserie that made Margarita a James Beard finalist. Arrive early.
Good to know
République, answered
What's the best time to go to République for the first time?
Weekend mornings for the bakery are peak République — croissants come out before dawn and the line is part of the experience. For dinner, book two weeks ahead and ask for a table near the arched clerestory windows.
Is République a bakery or a restaurant?
Both, in the same room. Walk-in bakery-café by day; reservation-only French dinner service starting at 5:30pm. Two kitchens, one story.
Who are the owners of République?
Chef Walter Manzke — a Patina and Bastide veteran — and his wife, pastry chef Margarita Manzke. They opened République in 2013 in the historic Campanile space.