A lot happened in the world before we were born, and then after we are here and try to make things happen for ourselves, we depend on that combination of what happened before, and what we can make happen, to try to find fulfillment in life. In some rare extraordinary circumstances, the past and the present, with all the variables, chaos, uncertainty, confusion, hope and opportunity connect in ways that are truly unique and inspirational. And that is the introduction to the République experience, where patrons are able to enjoy an almost flawlessly executed big concept that unites a repurposed Spanish revival style building from a 1920’s movie star, A husband/chef/owner who is a native of Southern California and a wife/chef/owner who is a native of The Philippines, and an expression of cooking that draws on both of their pasts and is focused through the lens of California cuisine. I say it is a big concept, but perhaps it is best to say it is a simple concept that is expressed in a big way. Discriminating diners are often justifiably wary of a big space experience because the concern is too often more directed at toward high profitability with the lowest quality they can get away with. But here, low quality never occurs to anyone eating here, because République will give us the best versions of what they intend to deliver. The experience is divided into two parts. The first part is the pastry experience, which follows that traditional ‘make a line and wait your turn’ process. So the first things you see as you walk in will be a seemingly endless line of culinary works of art laid out like tiny sculptures in a a museum to a French artist we have never heard of before. Only you can eat these little sugar glazed sculptures for a modest fee, and remember them fondly long after they have been consumed.
After you buy more pastries than you should, you can then either exit and take your little food sculptures home to eat them, or you can move on to part 2 of the experience, which is to eat in their dining room for a full service experience. You will order from a menu, pay from one of their 3 registers, and then go find a seat for yourself. They will then bring the food to you, and fair warning, on crowded days it can take a little while. But the wait is well worth it.
The Space
The building in which République resides has an interesting little story to it. Charlie Chaplain, the famous actor and film producer from the early days of Hollywood had a movie studio close by this location. He wanted to build an investment property, and hired an architect named Roy Seldon Price, who was building Spanish revival dwellings in Los Angeles in the early 1900s. The space was originally not designed as a restaurant, but as more of a work space where supposedly he could charge rent to tenants. Read about some of the history of the building here, along with some photos of how the place looked in the 1920s. You can still see the double concrete arches, and the fountain that was in the courtyard is now on the exterior of the property. Read about how the owners redesigned the space to accommodate their vision of the restaurant. If find yourself waiting for the food, take a few moments to walk around the interior and maybe revisit the fountain that you probably ignored when you first came in. Look at the historical photos from the website and locate all the architectural features. The coat of arms above the double arches is the same as it was almost 100 years ago. I think that’s neat. But enough of this. Now on to the food!
The Brioche French Toast and Maple Glazed Bacon Steak
Quite honestly, I really wouldn’t care about anything I said above if the food wasn’t worth it. And I’m happy to say that the food is worth it (mostly). We were there for brunch on a Saturday, so that is the only experience I can describe, but I will return someday for the dinner menu. For Brunch I tend to like a pancakes/French toast/waffles sort of thing, and I went with the brioche French toast. I needed some protein to go with it, and rather than order a big plate worth of stuff (which would likely be very good, but too much), I went with a side order of the maple glazed bacon steak. My selections hit the bullseye for me because each was perfect on its own, and together they let me walk out of the restaurant later feeling satisfied and culinarily happy. The French toast was cooked and flavored perfectly, and I haven’t eaten any French toast anywhere that I could say was better. A hit of the Vermont maple syrup was just the right connection to a little sweetness on top of a heated brioche buttery delight. The bacon steak was full of a smokeyness that greeted you on first hitting the taste buds, and mixed with the maple syrup French toast comes as close to a sweet savory perfect pair as one can get. I also got the fingerling potatoes, and I have to confess I didn’t find them worth the calories, unless I just happened to be in the mood for potatoes. But opportunity costs matter when you’re eating at an expensive restaurant because every calorie you consume is a lost opportunity to consume another calorie, so the next time I go I’m going to avoid the potatoes in favor of something else. But uninteresting potatoes are not going to make me stop raving about the bacon steak. Instead of experiencing bacon in thin slices, one can have the same cut, but very thickly sliced. It holds the smokey flavor much better and makes a stronger impression on the taste buds.
The Croque
My wife ordered the croque madame, as it is a favorite go to dish when we are at a French restaurant. It’s just a simple grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top, and one would think we might want something a little more elaborate at a place like République, but when done well, this simple offering really hits the spot. At so many places in California you are promised a croque, but what you get is a disappointing ham sandwich. But République’s croque delivers a great eating experience because they have their own cured ham which they use for the croque, and the sandwich they sell in the bakery/pastry portion of the restaurant. The ham is cured in a such a way that the flavor and texture fit very well between the cheese and the buttered toast. It was very mild in profile and if eaten on its own might be quite boring. But as a part of an ensemble, it played its part well.
The Baquette
Of course any food experience that wants to call itself French must have a baguette or some kind of French bread to offer you. At the République brunch, they offer a baguette, butter, and raspberry jam trio. It just doesn’t seem as though even the the best French restuarants in the US can get the baguette quite the way you’ll find it at a boulangerie in Paris, but this was pretty close, and quite enjoyable. The butter is from France, and combined with the raspberry jam, it is a nice comfort to go to while you’re in between bites of whatever else you’re eating. It’s hard not to enjoy bread, butter, and jam done well, except when you ‘fill up on bread’ and you can’t enjoy some of the other offerings.
The Berry Tres Leches
It was probably wrong of us, or at least me, to get the tres leches cake on top of French toast. There’s only so many bread and sugar carbs a person should have, but hey, it’s tres leches so I forgavve myself. (turns out it was quite easy to do that…) Tres leches is meant to be 3 milks used to make something, and when done well, a tres leches cake or pudding can be among the most decadent dining events you will ever have. Peruvian cuisine, among others will offer a tres leches cake that will prompt you to need to forgive yourself quite a bit, and I may have had that in mind when I was thinking about this tres leches cake. The République version didn’t quite rise to level of sinfully decadent experience, but it was incredibly good and I hope to have another one someday. But though it was quite satisfying, I might save my calories to be able to try something else next time. Not because it wasn’t wonderful, but rather I’ll want to opportunity to try other wonderful things they have there as well.
The Pastries and Sandwich
I envy the people who live close to République because they can go in whenever the want, but since we live a distance away it is a mission for us to go there. So of course we want to make our trip count as much as possible so we buy some goodies for later when we get home. We bought a few of the many pastry options and the ham and cheese sandwich. Many French style pastries made in the US have the peculiar feature of looking very inviting, but tasting bland. Fortunately, that is not the case with the République pastries. The tarts are very much alive with flavor, and the tasting reality matches your expectations based on the appearance. Taking the pastries away subtracts from the grand experience of eating there, but it at least lets you keep the memory of the experience going for a little longer.
