New restaurants: Tom Bergin’s Tavern, Republique, Blaze

| October 31, 2013 | 0 Comments
LONGTIME CUSTOMER reopens Tom Bergin’s.

LONGTIME CUSTOMER reopens Tom Bergin’s.

Derrick Schreck has purchased, Tom Bergin’s Tavern, the 77-year-old landmark at 840 S. Fairfax Ave., after it had been closed for nine months for restoration.

A Carthay Circle resident who lives a half-block away from Bergin’s, Schreck had been a regular for many years.

Schreck’s partner Jordan Delp is general manager. He has worked at restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles and had worked at Tom Bergin’s previously. T.K. Vodrey, who ran Tom Bergin’s for nearly 40 years, has been helping Schreck in an advisory role.

He will be returning the traditional autographed cardboard shamrocks to the ceiling of the bar. They were removed during the remodeling. The only major change is that the entrance is now off the parking lot.

Lunch will be served on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Happy hour begins at 5 p.m.. and dinner continues until 2 a.m.

Republique debuts in Campanile spot

Entrepreneurs Walter and Margaret Manzke are ready to open the doors of Republique, the restaurant taking shape in the former Campanile location at 624 S. La Brea Ave.

In a question & answer column in “Eater LA,” Manzke describes some of the changes.

“During the day, you come in, there’s pastry cases, you order at the front and food comes to you. We have coffee, all the typical things you might expect from a cafe. But the difference is, I built the front counter like a kitchen so that at night it almost feels like a wine bar. There will be oysters, charcuterie, and desserts coming from that counter, like an extension of the kitchen.”

The couple met while working at Patina. Walter was the chef, and Margaret was finishing an internship at Culinary Institute of America. They later met again at Melisse in Santa Monica, where she was the sous chef.

The pair has opened restaurants in the Philippines and Carmel.

Blaze brings artisanal pizza to Market

Blaze Pizza, an artisanal pizza joint from Wetzel’s Pretzels founders Elise and Rick Wetzel, is coming to Farmers Market in November.“It all started with the simple idea of making a great artisanal pizza, custom built-to-order and served freakishly fast—for about $7,” says Elise Wetzel.
Her frustration grew from not being able to find good fast pizza for lunch.“We knew that if we could execute on this simple idea, we could sell a lot of pizza,” she said.The Wetzels collaborated with executive chef Brad Kent to create a signature “light-as-air crispy crust” that could be pressed fresh for each guest.
Another six Southern California locations are planned this year and 10 next year.

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Category: Entertainment

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