great food and good times need no separation at Church & State

Tucked into a small urban oasis in a rather questionable side of town, Church & State defies convention. The beautiful glass, steel, and brick façade on the bottom level of the National Biscuit Company Building, with its outdoor patio, tree-lined sidewalks, and young professionals walking their dogs outside, is a stark contrast to the surrounding sooty industrial buildings, the vast concrete-lined LA River, and infamous skid row just around the corner. Regardless of the location, the food, with Walter Manzke (formerly of Bastide) at the helm, is excellent. Unlike other Steven Arroyo hot-spots like Cobras & Matadors, which seemed more focused on entertainment than outright authentic cuisine, Church & State brings its rock-solid, comforting bistro fare to the forefront. Manzke’s dishes stun you with their simplicity and deft execution; their flavors celebrate classic French technique and quality of ingredients. Is it possible to have incredible French food in an exciting and vibrant atmosphere in the middle of downtown’s sketchy warehouse district? Church & State says you can.

reflections; filaments; street scene; green fairy recipe

While Anisette across the way in Santa Monica is more traditional, grand, and Parisian in feel, Church & State is more befitting of its downtown location; it’s fun, lively, a bit more edgy and hip, and Manzke runs with it. The best way to sample his menu, in my opinion, is to order up a gamut of appetizers and small plates, and bring a few friends to share. Most of the entrees are also smartly offered in a smaller size, perfect for sampling.

A great start is the Gambas à la Niçoise. A nod to ama ebi (Japanese sweet shrimp), Santa Barbara spot prawns are cooked just enough to color their shells; the rare crustaceans drizzled with olive oil and lemon, and topped with a brunoise of celery, olives, and capers. Light and delicious.

Santa Barbara spot prawns, olives, tomato, cucumber, lemon, olive oil

The Pied de Cochon, pork shoulder, cheeks, and feet, lightly breaded and fried, is creamy, tender, and flavorful; the accompanying nutty lentils and bacon laced frisée help to cut through the fat. Rillettes de Porc, a paste of slow-cooked Berkshire pork in its own fat, is presented in a glass canning jar and paired with a Armagnac spiked prune jam. The texture is quite similar to cold, refried beans, which may not agree with everyone. Some mentioned the prune confiture to be too overpowering, but alone, the fattiness of the pork would have been too much. A better choice is the Terrine de Foie Gras, served with port wine gelée and a stack of buttery brioche slices. So damn good you’ll want to ask for more brioche to spread that luscious duck liver on. Oreilles de Cochon continues down the pork-favored menu; golden triangles of crispy pig’s ears served with béarnaise sauce. Silky, crispy, porky. Again, delicious. Fans of salt cod will appreciate the Boulettes de Brandade de Morue, pureed salt cod balls, perfectly fried, and served piping hot with a small bowl of saffron aioli.

service; Rillettes de Porc; mark of industry; Boulettes de Brandade de Morue

Church & State features a selection of Alsatian tarts, which resemble crispy flatbread with toppings. We tried the Époisses Tart,  in which a layer of the namesake pungent cheese is topped with chanterelles, cubes of of smoky bacon, caramelized onions, and parsley. This was a fun dish to share, with a beautiful marrying of flavors and textures.

tart of Époisses, chanterelles, cubes of bacon, caramelized onion

During dinner, we saw cute little cups topped with puffed pastry whizzing from the open kitchen to tables around the restaurant, and we just had to order some of our own. The Escargots de Bourgogne replaces the classic dimpled serving plate with snails (sans shells) baked in individual cups.  The golden pastry helps the snails steam in a bath of garlic and parsley butter.

La Chouffe Belgian Ales; Escargots de Bourgogne; Mœlle de Bœuf

My friend is a huge fan of bone marrow, so of course the Mœlle de Bœuf was a non-negotiable. The Flintstone-like bones are split lengthwise, allowing the fat to be seasoned and caramelized. Take a scoop of jelly-like bone innards, spread it on the buttery grilled toast, making sure to add a little scoop of radish relish as provided. The result is quite sumptuous. I have never really liked this dish elsewhere but Manzke’s version is tasty.

Not to be missed, is the Pommes Frites au Lard. Yes, you read that right. No cholesterol-free vegetable oil here. Potatoes fried in lard. Just amazing. The lemony aioli is the perfect dipping sauce, no ketchup please!

wait

The dessert list may look simple, but don’t let that fool you. A few months ago I had the most incredible strawberry rhubarb crisp (which inspired my first journal entry). As I scraped every last remnant of the crisp, I scratched my head wondering how something so simple could taste so good. In alignment with the changing seasons, this time it’s a version with peach, tangerine, and plum, with a quenelle of buttermilk ice cream. The Pot de Crème a la Vanille, boasting berries from Pudwell Farms, is smooth and satisfying. I usually scoff at the artisan name dropping, but the jewel-like berries have rightfully their stripes. The chocolate version, topped with caramel, candied hazelnuts, and fleur de sel, is equally decadent but a bit more rich.

degustation des desserts

In past visits we’ve also sampled the steak frites, duck confit, and mac & cheese, all quite good. There’s still much more to try, so I’m certain we’ll be back for more. The service while friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable, can be a bit sporadic as the restaurant hits full steam in the thick of dinner service. Somewhat understandable given the frenetic pace of the restaurant. However, even with different wait staff carting dishes to our table, our waiter always made it a point to stop by soon afterwards to explain each dish and offer any tips that might enhance or improve our tasting experience. As long as you have a few hours to kill, the slower service doesn’t detract from the experience. And why should it? With all the awesome dishes and great downtown vibe, no one should be in any hurry to leave.

I saw this post about summer fest on mattbites, so I thought I would join in on the fun. If you’re a fan of Japanese food, shiso needs no introduction. It’s unique flavor and floral aroma I find, tastes like mint, basil, fennel, cilantro all rolled into one. Shiso is commonly served with sashimi and sometimes tucked under nigiri like ika (squid sushi). Chiffonade of the herb tops rice bowls, salads, and pastas. The leaves can be found in Japanese and Korean markets, and is also refered to as ohba (the term used when accompanied with raw fish), perilla, or Japanese beefsteak plant. I found shiso seeds a few years back at my local Armstrong Garden Center (to my surprise). Shiso grows extremely well in hot climates, and will tower about 3 to 4 feet high with its frangrant fringed-edged leaves. I’ve grown shiso for the past 2-3 years, and it usually ends up serving no purpose besides adding some nice greenery to the garden. So this year I decided to make better use of this quite awesome herb. My plants this year were overshadowed by the crazy mess of a tomato patch, which has taken over the whole space (and then some). Fortunately, the shiso still managed to produce some usable leaves.

shiso plant; basil blossoms; dill flowers

One of my favorite uses for shiso is for grilling. The herb imparts a subtle perfume and herbaceous quality when wrapped around meat and grilled. Shin Sen Gumi (the local yakitori shop) marries shiso beautifully with pork belly. The pork belly in this case,  is wrapped around the shiso, possibly to protect the herb from the intense heat of the robata grill. When skewered and grilled over Japanese oak charcoal (binchotan), it’s just sublime.

Another regular order for me while getting yakitori is tori no tsukune, or grilled chicken meatballs. Torehei in Torrance makes a killer one. Their version utilizes jidori (free range) chicken, and while softer in texture to most I’ve sampled, they include bits of cartilage that adds a nice crunchy contrast. Though I doubt shiso is commonly used in the meatballs (maybe it is? I don’t know), I decided it would be a nice touch.

soaking kushi in water; hida konro and binchotan; mix for tori no tsukune; chiffonade

So I headed off to Marukai in Gardena to get some goodies in order to make these two dishes. Like a kid in a candy store, I got a little carried away. I came home with all the ingredients, plus a mini hida konro (Japanese charcoal grill), binchotan, and the same cute bamboo skewers (kushi) they use in the restaurant!

pork belly and shiso; grilling on the hida konro; tori no tsukune on the weber

The pork belly and shiso was fairly straightforward. Just wrap and skewer. The tori no tsukune recipe I found from Tess’ blog (Thank you, Tess!). The little grill as you can see from its size, isn’t going to cut it for more than one person (I couldn’t part with the $50 required for the larger one. This cheap one was only $8.)  But it was fun playing with it, and boy for its size, the grill and the Japanese charcoal puts out tons of heat! While we persevered and cooked the pork belly on the ‘lil grill that could’, I put the meatballs on the trusty gas Weber.

Well, I’m happy to report that the Japanese grilling slash shiso experiment came out great. The pork belly was just as good as the restaurant version, and the tori no tsukune was quite good as well. I probably could have cooked the chicken a bit less, but for the first time I erred on the side of caution. They were delicious nonetheless.  All these two needed was a nice cold Sapporo (which we had) and all was good.

Once again, the lure of burgers and hoppy ales was too strong. Another gastropub was calling, this time it was the Golden State. Sourced from throughout California (with the exception of brews, which hail mostly from the state but not exclusively), their menu reads like a play on the whole eco-conscious, sustainable, local food movement. More so, it’s just name dropping an ecletic mix of what California has to offer. Beef from Harris Ranch. Let’s Be Frank hotdogs. Gelato from Scoops. Virgil’s Root Beer from Reed’s. You get the point.

enjoying Scoops gelato; burger; Maharaja double IPA; sweet potato fries

Golden State currently pours about 10 beers, some from bottles, the rest from draft. The selection includes some, might I dare say, common favorites like Racer 5 (Bear Republic), West Coast (Green Flash), and Great White (Lost Coast); all great beers, so I’m not complaining. There’s also a few California wines by the glass, and a few sodas from Reed’s. The food offerings are fairly spartan, consisting of burgers, sandwiches, hot dogs, a trio of salads and some sides.

On my visit I sampled the burger, which features Harris Ranch beef, Fiscalini Farms cheddar, applewood smoked bacon, arugula, and housemade aioli and ketchup. The burger was quite juicy and flavorful; the savory bacon, cheddar, and de facto pairing of bitter arugula complimented the aged beef well. A soft bun does its darnest to hold in the dripping juices. All washed down with a Maharaja double IPA from Avery Brewing Co. I liked it.

burger, bitten.

I’ve always wanted to try some of the artisan dogs from Let’s Be Frank, but have never made it to the cart in Culver City. Though I didn’t get to again this time, my friend reported that it was good, the relish being particularly tasty. The fries were well done, and while the sweet potato variety had great flavor, they were a wee bit thick for most. Dessert was gelato sourced from cult favorite Scoops just a few miles away. Though admittedly I was initially drawn in by the hype over Tai Kim’s strange and sometimes alcohol-centric flavors, now I find them just ok. However, the temptation of a beer float (scoop of gelato + Old Rasputin Stout) and burger might have me coming back for more.