At night it's a little more formal, but during the day it's all cafe.
I will never not love this place, and I will never tire of the Gioiella Ricotta Toast. A sweet, thick cream of a cheese covers a crusty bread, topped with seasonal fruit. This time I caught those gorgeous peaches and figs. With chunks of pistachio and a drizzle of honey, it's absolutely bliss.
Fungi pile high on a slab of Mushroom Toast, interspersed with slips of spinach and slices of house-cured ham. A creamy hollandaise creeps into the crevices and coddles the eggs, a Benedict-but-better that will warm you to your core.
A simple Steak Frites is a slightly gristly cut, brimming with butter, dripping with juice, decadence in a dish.
A lunch is simply not enough, and we continue the fun at home with a box of baked goods and a baguette to go with dinner. The baguette is just perfect, a crust with a real crunch that rips open to reveal a soft and chewy center.
In our box, we have a dulce de leche black sesame pound cake, a truly perfect pound cake, where the sesame adds savory and nutty notes. No need for the dulce de leche - this layer of decadence distracts from the pure loveliness of the pound cake. Plus there's plenty of that in this dulce de leche pastry, an impossibly flaky crust over a rock of creamy caramel-sugar filling that oversaturates your sweet senses. The raspberry hazelnut donut is a fine frosted donut, light and airy but just a donut all the same. The raspberry matcha bundt is a favorite, however, a firm yet moist bit of cake covered in a matcha crust. It's a sweet cake, infused with so much matcha flavor yet none of the residual bitterness.
Make no mistake; Republique may look like a Paris street, but they're no corner cafe, and their prices reflect their rent. Be prepared to pay to play, though I don't find the prices off-putting given their location in Los Angeles. Beautiful restaurant, beautiful food, always worth another visit.
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