Manzke Restaurant

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
142

Had dinner here on Thursday with a friend. We were both a bit spooked by the recent reviews… fears turned out to be (mostly) unfounded, or at least not things that we specifically found bothersome. My friend took pictures, thankfully.

Menu

image
image1920×2550 208 KB

On one hand, the menu had 11 items. On the other hand, that wasn’t a surprise for me like it might have been for others, and it ended up being more than enough food anyways. (Also a reason I did not especially feel the lack of Bicyclette’s baguettes, among others.)

Was every dish an absolute blowout? No - the tzatziki in particular was a whiff. The chips by themselves were quite good but there was too much tzatziki compared to “everything else”. The asparagus didn’t feel like a cohesive dish, though I thought the almond emulsion (menu says hazelnut, but I’m pretty sure we were told almond) was excellent. I didn’t really “get” the japanese wagyu, nor the bordelaise, but really liked the american wagyu. (My friend had the opposite preferences w.r.t. meats, but also didn’t really get much from the sauce.) The potato was a clever play on the sour cream & onion combo.

Everything else ranged from “great” to “incredible”, with the quail being the star of the night, closely followed by the morel (in the dover sole dish - the sole itself was very good but outshone by the mushroom) and the chawanmushi.

Quail
Steel-cut oats, quail jus, balsamic vinegar, roasted turnip, sausage(?)
(forgive the photo quality)

image
image1920×1446 133 KB

I’m maybe a little iffy on the overall value prop, but at this level I’m looking more for higher peaks, especially those that show me something new, and I’m ok with sacrificing a bit of consistency, and I don’t feel disappointed on that score. I recognize not everyone is necessarily ok with that in their $225/head meal, and might prefer a different trade-off (or just has a higher bar, full-stop).

Our meal’s pacing was totally fine, we sat down at 6 and got out ~8:30.

9 Likes
143

This is where I netted out. If you’re willing to go all in for the experience, I’d say it’s worth a shot. Glad to see you got some different dishes–the quail would have been something I’d have liked our meal to include!

7 Likes
144

my bad

145

baguette sighting

6 Likes
146

I wanna know how that happened?

1 Like
147

is this food porn for manzke!?

703×937 183 KB

4 Likes
148

Be Kevin and not just a random diner, I guess :joy:

7 Likes
149

Could it also be because they ordered six cocktails, a bottle of wine, etc…?

Being made up of people, I assume restaurants are more accommodating to people that do this dance of give and take, rather than those who try to squeeze every crumb of QPR out of the meal. By accommodating, I mean they do things outside the normal programming.

Nice touches to offer a baguette from downstairs and pour a few splashes of wine on the house, but in no way should it be expected (imo). Just as likely that it was done because he was a good customer rather than kevineats.

2 Likes
150

You can think bloggers don’t get special treatment if you want, but it is just not true. Keep in mind i’m not saying KE asked for special treatment but the chef and restaurant know who he is and how many people he can reach.

1 Like
151

That’s absolutely true. Many restaurants including the Republique group of restaurants, have a file on their diners…

6 Likes
152

I also agree, but I’m prone to think that being a conscientious blogger goes hand in hand with being a good guest. I would venture to guess that kevineats is probably a guest that restaurants enjoy having for a variety of reasons, and treat him the way they do because of that.

My point is that it is not solely because he is who he is. I think it is related to that mess of a blurb that the habitue chef wrote out on their instagram account about guests.

1 Like
153

I agree, but I think if a well known person walks into a restaurant they will automatically get treated better.
I worked at a restaurant where J gold showed up and the owner stopped everything he was doing to make sure Gold was getting the best service possible + extra freebies and attention that an everyday customer simply wouldn’t get. Same thing goes for famous actors/actresses.

4 Likes
155

I’ve had dinner with kevin a few times - he’s a good guest. Like you said up above - plenty of cocktails and wine are ordered. I don’t think we got anything free the times we’ve hung out - they were like regular dinners.

3 Likes
156

I think I started drifting a bit, but I appreciate your comments.

I do feel like it’s too broad of a generalization to say anyone well-known will be treated better at a restaurant, and it is one of those things we love to hate and think that it happens more than it does. I would be pretty surprised if a restaurant of Manzke’s caliber would make substantial service/food changes that others would be able to notice. Again, not saying it doesn’t happen, but I am saying that it’s not automatic. A see-and-be-seen place like Mother Wolf or Spago? Sure.

This is a really interesting topic contained within Manzke’s service, especially because it’s just about bread. The argument could definitely go both ways for “it’s just bread” but it is really evidence of the differences between how restaurants and customers think about and approach each component.

1 Like
157

Totally agree with you there. Substantial service/food changes? Probably not.
The owner bringing out a special bottle for a complimentary pour, or the line cooks making sure every garnish is placed perfectly? Most probably. Heck, maybe a chef like Evan Funke despises the idea of a “celebrity” and would actually treat one the same as any other customer, but for most restaurants, I will still tend to believe that if George Clooney walked in, he would get treated better than a random diner.

Actually, I remember when J. Gold was dining at the spot I worked at, the owner prepared him a dish that wasn’t on the menu, and he was the only one that received that dish. Never saw it on the menu once, even after leaving that job.

Whether KE is big enough of a “celebrity” is a different conversation. As is “famous” food bloggers vs. Hollywood celebrities.

In this case, I would like to believe that if anyone is dining at Manzke and drops $$$ on wines on top of their dinner, the least they can do is bring some baguette from downstairs and still charge for it. Whoever makes them should make an extra 5-10 loaves a day just for this purpose.

4 Likes
158

Just went last night with my wife. The menu is very different from my first visit. Only the Dover sole is a hold over (despite it being a different sauce). The Thai Curry is still there but different type of shellfish.

And the menu has some changes even from @T3t 's visit two weeks ago.

They took out the Tzatziki and replaced it with a Pea Labneh which was quite delicious, nowhere near as tangy, big, thick as the tzatziki was.

Also Duck is now on the menu over Quail - with macerated cherries.

American Wagyu Ribcap is now the sole red meat

Notes from my wife

She doesn’t eat medium rare meat, she likes it pretty well cooked, but she devoured the duck and the ribcap - she said if all medium rare preps tasted like this she’d eat more of it. Which honestly is insulting my cooking abilities :D.

She also asked why they are not giving baguettes if they are giving the butter, as the Brioche doesn’t need additional butter. I laughed and told her this exact comment was made on a food forum and certainly makes sense.

18 Likes
159

huge price hike starting in june, $260pp. manzke-flation

3 Likes
160

Maybe at this price point they can give out a free baguette.
To me, there are about a dozen places I would rather go at $260 pp

1 Like
161

woah. where was that posted?

162

opentable

Screenshot_20220518-110653
Screenshot_20220518-110653864×960 104 KB

4 Likes