Pass the Butter

Marco Pierre White ominously survey’s the scene. A nod to the resto’s French fare.

The title of this post is a little dishonest, Republique isn’t new, it’s been open since December 2013. I named this piece “The New Republique” because the restaurant forever changed L.A. brunch for me. It’s a new dawn, a new day, and I’m feeling good. The restaurant is well known for its gorgeous interior and delicious food and it’s been one of L.A.’s hottest dinner spots since it opened. All that hype is merited and, thanks to a great bar, come suppertime it is definitely one of my favorite solo hangs (see my post on the adventures of dining alone in a big city). Tearing into their homemade baguette, smothering it with salted Normandy butter and submerging it in a hot pan of fresh grill drippings is the kind of pleasure I describe using words usually reserved for sex. Marco Pierre White would be proud.

All that being said, the meal that changed my life at Republique was brunch. Firstly, to order it you must line up along a counter containing an array of baked goods that would make Betty Crocker blush. The baking here is shameless: sexy, butter-filled, gooey, sticky, sugary and unapologetically abundant. In a city that prides itself on demonizing carbs of any kind, Republique seems to be suggesting that anyone who truly loves food will want to add a freshly-baked brioche or salted chocolate tart to their brunch order, “Live a little, we dare you.”

Crispy yet chewy chocolate chip and gooey double chocolate cookies.

Secondly, the brunch menu has all the indulgent dishes you could want: European-style soft scrambled eggs with bacon or slabs of thick cut pork-belly, mushroom toast on thick cut sourdough bread, shakshouka, brioche French-toast and on and on and on. Even the coffee says “we take nothing for granted” – it comes in a French-press served with beautiful earthenware pottery.

My favorite bread to take home.

The truth is, there could be a ‘thirdly’ and a ‘fourthly’ and probably a ‘twentiethly’ reason to eat brunch here and this could be one of my longest blog posts to date. However, instead of trying to inundate you with drool-worthy descriptions of dish after dish, I’m simply going to leave you with this: their most famous dessert is a three layer salted caramel chocolate cake and it’s the kind of cake you fight with your partner over if you awaken to discover they ate it all while you were still asleep (please tell me I’m not alone in this…). I stand in line, order my food, my bread and other to-go goodies, and I always, always, end up ordering a slice of that chocolate cake with my brunch; Republique has it ready first thing in the morning, they know that even in L.A., their clientele will eat it for breakfast.♥

Republique
624 South La Brea Avenue,
Los Angeles, CA 90036
310.362.6115

One of my favorite ways to learn in the kitchen is figuring out what to do with leftovers. My husband is the best I’ve ever seen at turning random bits of food and half-empty containers of whatever into haute-cuisine but he cheated- he went to culinary school. For those of us who didn’t spend our college years playing with hot fire and sharp knives, opening a fridge to find last night’s dinner staring back can be a little traumatic. I swear, my leftovers taunt me, they sit there silently judging, “I will go bad. People are going hungry and you will throw me away.” Their judgment follows me throughout my day like an angry Westeros crowd, “Shame, shame, shame.”

Well, here it is friends, The Mountain at the end of that long walk (GOT fans, you get me), that is, only if you had fish for dinner. I actually feel quite lucky with this one because it turns out one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast is the perfect “what do do with last-night’s salmon?” solution and super duper easy. This recipe is for salmon spread but you can make this with almost any fish.

A few notes about this recipe: Try it with any fish you like. If you don’t have a ton of fish and want more spread you can add more cream cheese and creme fraiche but your fish flavor will get lighter as you do. As you add more of anything else to increase volume, add more lemon juice and s & p as well so it’s not bland. I eat this on bread, crackers or just with a spoon any time of day. It’s also a great appetizer/table snack if you have guests. All measurements are approximate since I never measure, I go by texture, taste and instinct.

Salmon Spread
{adjust amounts for how much fish you have, just don’t go above a 1:2 ratio (ex. 3oz fish with 6oz cream cheese+creme fraiche total) or it gets bland}

4oz Salmon (or any fish cooked, de-skinned, de-boned)
3oz Cream cheese (will mix better at room temp but not necessary if you can’t)
3oz Creme Fraiche (you can sub with sour cream but use one ounce less than cream cheese)
Juice of 1 whole lemon (more if you need)
1-2 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp Diced chives (you can sub spring onion or shallots just dice very small)
Salt & Pepper to taste

In bowl mix cream cheese, creme fraiche, and olive oil. Use hand-held mixer on low or stir with fork until fairly smooth and ingredients are very well mixed.
Add lemon juice & chives and mix until well incorporated.
Add fish and mix in well with fork until evenly distributed.
Taste (this is really important since your fish is, hopefully, already seasoned from cooking and you don’t want to over season the spread). Add salt & pepper as needed and more lemon juice if desired (I like mine with a little citrus kick).
Place in airtight container (I use mason jars). It can be eaten right away but I like it best chilled in the refrigerator for at least an hour so it gets nice and thick again for spreading.

Keeps in the fridge for about 3 days. Enjoy!♥

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THE NEW REPUBLIQUE

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