James Beard Awards for the Baking Business
The James Beard Foundation presented the winners of its esteemed awards for 2023. The awards have dedicated categories for pastry chefs/bakers and for bakeries. This year, the winners are:
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Margarita Manzke (pictured above), République, Los Angeles
Born and raised in the Philippines, Margarita Manzke entered the Los Angeles scene working at some of the city’s most celebrated restaurants, including Patina, Spago, and Mélisse. In the early 2000s, she and her husband Walter moved to Carmel, opening critically acclaimed dining concepts Bouchée, Cantinetta Luca and l’Auberge Carmel, which is where her signature French baguette was mastered. Manzke eventually returned to Los Angeles as Pastry Chef of Bastide Restaurant, and, in the years to come, opened several award-winning concepts in Los Angeles, including Petty Cash Taqueria, Sari Sari Store, and République.
Manzke pushed the boundaries of her craft at République, introducing her own distinctive techniques and flavors into her creations. As a result of her inspired work at République, Manzke has been nominated for the James Beard Awards Outstanding Pastry Chef category for eight consecutive years running. République has continued to make its mark on the culinary landscape of Los Angeles as a frequent entry on the Los Angeles Times “101 Best” List and one of Restaurant Critic Bill Addison’s most recommended LA restaurants to both friends and readers.
In addition to her other restaurants, Manzke is well known for her Sari Sari Store in the historic Grand Central Market, which brings a fresh take on the Filipino food of her upbringing to Downtown Los Angeles. Internationally, her reach includes sixteen Wildflour Bakery and Cafés in the Philippines. In 2021, she and Chef Walter opened Bicyclette Bistro in Beverly Hills, which celebrates traditional Parisian bistro cuisine through the lens of hyper-seasonal California ingredients. Their latest venture upstairs—simply called ‘Manzke’—opened in March of 2022 and takes her storied career to the next level in the form of a refined tasting menu concept.
Outstanding Bakery: Yoli Tortilleria, Kansas City
Yoli Tortilleria comes from a desire to find fresh, quality tortillas in Kansas City by founders Mark and Marissa Gencarelli. It is inspired by Marissa’s upbringing who was born and raised in Sonora, México. Yoli products reflect the rich diversity in Mexican cuisine. They follow traditional processes native to México, but use local and seasonal ingredients found in the Midwest. They produce stone-ground corn tortillas, Sonoran style flour tortillas, salsas, tamales, aguas frescas and recently introduced Eat Yoli zine series where story telling intersects with food. Their retail experience is located in the Westside neighborhood in Kansas City.