Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]
Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115
Date: September 16, 2017
Cuisine: Modern Bistro French
Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service
This is my 11th time writing up Republique! Woah. My parents were in town and turns out they had never been, so we headed on over for a dinner nominally celebrating my awesome dad’s 75th birthday!
Busy and loud as always!
Le menu.
From my cellar: NV Savart Champagne Bulle de Rosé. 92 points. Light pink/salmon color; nose has some strawberry fruit, clean, a bit limited; palate is full bodied, wonderful mousse, plenty of red fruit with strawberry and raspberry, tart grapefruit citrus from start to finish, slight brioche, nice density throughout but also medium-plus acidity that gives it crispness and freshness; medium to medium-long finish. The palate is really strong here with an awesome balance of richness, fruit, grapefruit tartness, and fresh acidity throughout that keeps it exciting and fresh. One of the most enjoyable and complex NV Rose Champagnes that I’ve had, and one of the best priced too. If the nose opens up a bit more, this will be killer, but for now still wonderful. Seems like it may change over a few years in the cellar too. 92+
30 minutes air: After warming from fridge temp, the nose is a bit more aromatic with clearer strawberry fruit, now a slight chalkiness (a bit denser than just minerality).
The bread and Normandy butter is always amazing.
Kampachi Crudo. Green thai curry, watermelon, basil, peanuts. Really nice interesting flavors. Love the combination. Very “Thai.”
Spanish Bluefin Tuna Toast. Avocado, yuzu, smoked sesame seeds, sun gold tomatoes.
Heirloom Tomatoes, cucumber, tenerelli farms peaches, santa barbara pistachios. Can we say seasonal California cuisine?
From my cellar: 1993 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges. VC 95. The 1993 Chevillon Les St. Georges is as fine a bottle of young Nuits as I have ever had the pleasure to taste, as it again seems to take the best of both the Cailles and Vaucrains and roll them into a whole that is more than a sum of its parts. The nose is deep, refined and regal, soaring from the glass in a mélange of black cherries, plums, violets, nutty tones, herbs, intense minerality, and woodsmoke. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, complete and youthfully complex, with a sappy core of fruit, brilliant acidity, great focus, and a very, very long finish of modest tannins and soil-driven flavors. This is a remarkable young wine that towers above many examples of the vintage that wear the grand cru label.
Hudson Valley Foie Gras. Steel-cut oats, applewood-smoked bacon, black mission figs, maple gastrique. Not sure what I thought about the oats but the foie and figs were perfect.
Charcuterie Board. Terrine, dry cures, pickles. I’ve had this a lot of times at wine events here, but it’s solid. Love the pates.
Simple pasta for my son. He liked it so much he ordered a second one!
Spinach Cavatelli. Wild mushrooms. Love the bitey texture and butter sauce. The pastas here are some of the best in the city. Better than 98% of all the Italian restaurants.
Sweet Corn Agnolotti. Chanterelle mushrooms. To die for. Absolutely incredible little pillows of sweetness.
Bucatini alla Carbonara. Pancetta, parmesan. Also buttery goodness!
From my cellar: 2001 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. RJ 95. Bricking dark red violet color; ginger cake, pepper, garrigue nose; silky textured, pepper, very tart black fruit palate; long finish
Red wine-braised beef short rib. Braised kale, roasted carrots, fingerling potatoes, applewood-smoked bacon.
Cauliflower. Sweet potato, pomegranate, goat cheese, arugula, dukkah.
Mary’s organic roasted chicken. Summer corn, cherry tomatoes, basil. Getting full. They changed up the veggies for the season.
Les desserts.
Chocolate ice cream. Good flavor but still that hard ice cream texture — gelato is better!
Salted caramel chocolate cake. Like chocolate cake with caramel on top.
Plum crisp. vanilla ice cream. My dad’s style. This is, by the way, in about 20 République meals one of the first times I’ve had normal dessert here!
My Dad and I.
I haven’t just “eaten” here in a while — normally I’m at a private function — and I was impressed by how on point all the food was. Service was great too. There wasn’t that thing that sometimes happens at République where a 1 hour gap develops between dishes. The place is buzzing! Both with customers and staff and is humming along like a well oiled machine (this was a Saturday night). There is a reason why it’s one of the most popular major restaurants in the city.
