Walter Manzke leaves Church & State, says his own restaurant is 'lined up'

Church & State chef Walter Manzke is leaving downtown's most-popular bistro to pursue opening his own restaurant. Manzke says that he has a space (or two) lined up but that nothing is finalized yet.

"My wife and I came down here with the the plan of opening our own place, and now it looks like we’re really close," Manzke says. "Everything’s going a little slower than anticipated.... It’s looking like it’s going to take a little time. There are a couple of things I’m looking at, actually.

"I put in a tremendous amount of time here," Manzke says. "Basically I’m at the restaurant from 10 a.m. to midnight, and it doesn’t leave me a lot of time for me to work on my own thing."

Meanwhile, Manzke's successor begins working at Church & State tomorrow. Joshua Smith was formerly chef de cuisine at Anisette Brasserie in Santa Monica. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Walter Manzke at Church & State. Credit: Jamie Rector/For The Times.