Manzke and Bicyclette, a restaurant duo from two of Los Angeles' most famous chefs, will close on March 2. It is the latest of a handful of notable closures in early 2024, and continues about 70 restaurants and bars closed in 2023.
Walter and Margarita Manzke, whose acclaimed restaurant République will be the couple's only remaining restaurant in Los Angeles, closed Petty Cash Taqueria and Sari Sari Store last year.
His excellent restaurant Manzke opened on Pico Boulevard in early 2022 and won a Michelin star later that year; maintained its rating in the coveted restaurant guide in 2023. Below Manzke is Bicyclette, a bistro that opened in 2021 and was named one of the The 101 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles last year by the LA Times. The newspaper's restaurant critic, Bill Addison. recently called Bicyclette “a Valentine's gift for the eternal Parisian bistro.”
“Our partners, along with Marge and I, have decided that it is best to close Manzke and Bicyclette,” Walter Manzke told The Times in a statement. “We will continue to operate the two restaurants as we have previously until March 2. As we work things out and have more details, we will be happy to share them with you.”
Bicyclette serves typical bistro dishes, such as a French chocolate and raspberry tart; from the left, a soft shell egg with caviar and confit duck leg.
(Shelby Moore / For The Times)
Manzke declined to explain the reason for the closures, but a representative from sister restaurant group Sprout LA he told Eater LAwhich first published the closures, which is due “to financial losses.”
Last year, in an interview with The Times, Manzke cited rising costs for labor, ingredients and even building maintenance as contributing factors to his decision to close Petty Cash in October. “It was an extremely difficult decision,” he said last fall. “I don't even know if it was a 'decision' because I had to close it. The truth is that, financially, I was not in the best place and it has to do with the increase in costs across the board and in the bottom line.”
In mid-December, they closed their fast-casual Filipino food stand inside Grand Central Market and announced the closure on Instagram without warning. Several Los Angeles restaurants have already closed in early 2024, including Pearl River Deli, Spartina, Milk Jar and Dragon.
The pandemic changed the restaurant landscape, Manzke told The Times last year, not only in the cost of goods and services but also in the way customers choose to dine. Today they are more demanding and more conscious of spending.
“They're going to go out and still spend quite a bit of money, but they seem to be more careful about it, and that makes it extremely difficult to start a new project,” Manzke said. “Not just the cost, but just getting it going. I mean, we've felt it at Bicyclette and Manzke; It's even new and our names have a bit of appeal, but it's really challenging to get new business and a new location these days. Everyone I know who has opened a new restaurant says the same thing.”
Chefs Walter and Margarita Manzke photographed outside République in 2019. The Mid-Wilshire restaurant will be their last remaining concept in Los Angeles.
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
“Ingenuity is everywhere,” the Michelin Guide wrote of Manzke in 2022, announcing the 10-course tasting menu interwoven with French, Californian and Asian influences.
The Times also recently called Bicyclette is one of the most romantic dining destinations in the region.
“Cheese gougères dissolve like an illusion,” Addison wrote. “The sausages range from nutmeg-scented boudin blanc that surges against the fork to taut, elegantly spiced merguez. The bouillabaisse broth is distilled into a pungent seafood liquor. I watch the team of chefs like a blur in constant motion through a window next to the small bar, my favorite spot in the dining room. Do I love it there because Margarita's jeweled, ruler-precise fruit tarts are displayed on a counter a few feet away, almost within arm's reach? Yes, and the waiters at Bicyclette are great conversationalists too.”
In addition to maintaining République in Mid-Wilshire, Walter and Margarita Manzke remain partners in Wildflour, a popular bakery and cafe chain in the Philippines.
