When the tower of starters hits the table, there’s an audible gasp. Shaved truffles cover tongues of uni balanced over soft-scrambled eggs on toast. Corn beignets are crowned with tiny dollops of jalapeño aioli, and crostini are covered in mounds of bluefin tuna with smoked heirloom tomato and caviar. Escargots swim in herb butter at the bottom of a piping-hot shot glass under a dome of pastry. Walter and Margarita Manzke’s Hancock Park restaurant thrills from the moment the doors open in the morning to a pastry case brimming with Margarita’s pastries, cakes, tarts and pie. At dinner, it’s Walter’s interpretation of California-French dishes that surprise and delight. Roast chicken was meant to taste this way, barely clinging to the bone and with a miniature pot of coq au vin sauce so viscous it coats the spoon. Liberty Farms duck liver with wild mushrooms and truffle is baked like a sausage roll in a pastry shell. Hospitality operates on another level, with staff who anticipate your every need. Wine director Sarah Clarke seems to have telepathic abilities, appearing out of nowhere with a nonalcoholic tea or the glass of bubbly you wanted. It’s the restaurant I reference most when making the case that L.A. is, in fact, one of the best food cities in the world. — J.H.

624 S. LA BREA AVE., LOS ANGELES, (310) 362-6115 l REPUBLIQUELA.COM