
For most of its ten years, République has been a culinary hub in a city whose sprawl defies such tidy configurations, a gathering point serving three squares in a historic mid-city building that once housed the offices of Charlie Chaplin. To this, Walter and Margarita Manzke have added two new establishments: Bicyclette opened in late 2021 in Beverlywood, a French bistro set in a low-slung tavern, where they offer bouillabaisse, roasted vegetable cassoulet, and escargot en croute. Upstairs, they have opened Manzke, a soigné prix-fixe affair with dishes that lean into extravagance, with base ingredients like caviar, uni, lobster, wagyu, scallops, white asparagus—each dish reflecting Manzke’s effortless knack for texture, balance and energy.
All three wine programs are overseen by Sarah Clarke, whose wine résumé in LA restaurants includes the post-Rosoff Mozzaplex and a stint at Antico, which may account for the Italian wines she’s added to all three menus, especially République’s. The lists at Bicyclette and Manzke remain distinct, the former defined by little wines like pineau d’aunis from Famille Vaillant, the latter by its magisterial stocks of Bordeaux, among the deepest in the city.
Republique, Bicyclette, Manzke are part of our Top 30 LA List of 2023. Read the whole story here.
Patrick J. Comiskey covers US wines for Wine & Spirits magazine, focusing on the Pacific Northwest, California’s Central Coast and New York’s Finger Lakes.
This story appears in the print issue of Spring 2023.
Like what you read? Subscribe today.