With two restaurants, three bars, a bakery, a coffee roastery, a marketplace, and a dedicated ice cream window, trying to navigate the Manufactory—a colossal food fantasyland in downtown’s ROW DTLA—is enough to make your head spin.
Conceived by culinary superstars Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson of San Francisco’s Tartine and Chris Bianco of Phoenix’s Pizzeria Bianco, the nearly 40,000-square-foot behemoth (along with Smorgasburg L.A.) is cementing the complex as a gastronomic destination. Overwhelmed by your options? Start with this handy flowchart, then follow your tastebuds.
PART ONE: CHOOSE YOUR OWN FOOD-VENTURE
PART TWO: DIG IN
Tartine Bianco
This light-flooded stunner serves up everything from coddled eggs with cured trout roe at breakfast to a spicy, fried whole snapper at dinner. Farmers’ market ingredients abound, but the star of the show is Robertson’s signature sourdough bread, which you can devour day or night with a schmear of whipped lardo and nori butter.
Ice Cream & Coffee Window
Starting bright and early at 7:30 a.m., custom coffee (roasted in-house) and Prueitt’s orange-kissed morning buns are available at this charming walk-up window. If you wake up with a sweet tooth, you can sample a rotating slate of seasonal frozen treats—fior di latte soft serve, passionfruit sorbet—beginning at 10:30 a.m.
The Market
Rotisserie chicken. Slab sandwiches. Cheese and charcuterie. Cookies and cakes. Fresh sourdough. A salad bar. This impeccably curated takeout shop even offers bottled hot sauce and craft beer. The only thing you’ll need is a tote bag for your loot, but don’t worry, they sell those, too.
The Market Bar
Come for the lemon-rosemary-and- pecorino flatbread and a tin of stuffed baby squid, stay for a glass of Russian River Valley trousseau gris. At the handsome marble counter, a selection of California wines is sold “by the inch,” meaning you only pay for what you drink.
Alameda Supper Club
All of the savory menus at the Manufactory come courtesy of a collaborative effort between chefs (and longtime pals) Bianco and Robertson, but it’s here that Bianco’s love affair with Italy shines via the hand-rolled pasta program.
RELATED: How Yarrow Cafe Is Changing L.A.’s Plant-Based Breakfast Scene
Stay up to date with everything you need to know about L.A. by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
The post How to Choose Your Own Food Adventure at Downtown Culinary Wonderland the Manufactory appeared first on Los Angeles Magazine.