Church & State: Revisited

Church & State
1850 Industrial St.
Los Angeles, CA 90021
213-405-1434

Friday night we revisited the very busy, bustling Church & State for another go at their French bistro fare. Located on Industrial, in the first floor of the Biscuit Company lofts, in a neighborhood that is really starting to pop. I loved the atmosphere last time, and we love Nicola the bartender, so we gave it another whirl Saturday despite not being thrilled with the food last time. This time was better.

Biscuit Company lofts to the left, Toy Factory lofts to the right. The first floor of the Toy Factory lofts houses Royal Clayton's, a British style pub.


I again ordered the Salade Lyonnaise, one of my favorite salads. I love warm poached egg over cool frisee with a nice vinaigrette, and this rendition is almost perfect.


Two things could have improved this. I would like more frisee. And being that bacon is a hallmark feature of the Salade Lyonnaise, I would like more than one tiny rectangle of bacon. Lots more. Like maybe even a dozen pieces. I am not greedy, but the stomach wants what the stomach wants.

That was really the only failure of the evening. Again we sipped and shared with our neighbors our favorite Chateauneuf du Pape, La Fortia.

I was very impressed with the chicken liver pate. This one was quite a bit lighter than the one I gobbled down a few weeks ago at BLT. And on top was a sweet fruity syrup. The wait person says it was a red wine reduction, but I will swear on a stack of blueberry plastic boxes that there was fruit in this reduction.

Either way, the combination of the chicken liver pate and the fruity syrupy reduction was immense. Massively delicious. This was my entree and it was wonderful Around this dish, Church & State have redeemed themselves.



D started with the clams, which were, like last time, perfect. Cooked just right, just the right amount to start with and not over-brothed or over-garlicked.



For an entree, D ordered the scallops, well done. I love the dark stickiness on the outside of a well seared scallop. And these came with frisee, which is always lovely. For some reason D decided that night that he hates frisee, when he loved it just a couple weeks ago. Clearly, he is slightly unhinged. This was lovely all around.



The night went south in a much less civilized manner later on, but we started out well.